


The Sacrificed

by SasuNarufan13



Series: Wolf and His Sacrifice [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst (like a shitton of it), Birth, Bite, Character Deaths, Explanation Bites, Fae Queen, Fairy Tale Elements, Implicit breastfeeding, Insecurity, Knotting, M/M, Mention of blood, Minor time skips, Mpreg, Naruto's pov, No rape but there are mentions of unwelcome touches, References to past non-con events, Rimming, Side story to The Sacrifice, Slash, Talkative Sasuke, Vague hints of abuse, Violence, Werewolves, fae, injuries, mature content, medievalish setting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 11:15:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 60,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24968818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SasuNarufan13/pseuds/SasuNarufan13
Summary: Naruto knows most villagers don't care about him, but he never thought they would actually sacrifice him to the Beast.
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Series: Wolf and His Sacrifice [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1928206
Comments: 576
Kudos: 1049





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Author's note: This is the first part of the story related to 'The Sacrifice'. You can read that one first if you want if you want to get a feeling of the setting already, but it's not really necessary as this story can be read on its own. I decided to cut the story into two because frankly it was becoming quite long and I want to keep the parts at a decent length. So have this part while I work on the second part LOL
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like this first part!

**Part 1**

"He told me that next time he's leaving the town, he's going to take me with him," he said, swishing his legs back and forth; the heels of his feet occasionally bumping into the cabinet. "There's some guy specialised in animals who lives in the village on the other end of the woods and Kakashi says I can learn more from that guy then."

The doctor turned around with a smile, finishing up writing whatever she always wrote down at the end of her day in the large book. She put her pencil down and rested her chin on her folded hands. "So, you're going to keep working with animals then?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, I mean, Kakashi said I'm good with them and it's fun learning how to work with all sorts of animals." His smile died when he thought about another reason why learning more about animals would be great. "Besides, if I train more with animals, then everyone will stop looking at me like I'm useless."

"You're not useless, Naruto," Tsunade immediately rebuked, frowning heavily. "Who's been saying that to you?" Her brown eyes flashed with an angry fire, like they always did whenever she heard of the less than favourable treatment he received from most townspeople.

He shrugged again, his legs resting immobile against the cabinet now as he stared down at the floor. "Nobody needs to say it, their faces are telling enough."

He saw it in the derisive sneers whenever he crossed them on the street, in the glares and turned up noses, in the way they snorted and ignored him whenever he offered to help someone out. The people in their town considered him useless, a dumb kid who somehow survived when a terrible illness had taken both his parents away from him.

Nobody took him seriously, nobody wanted to look at him – except for two people. An older man named Kakashi who had taught him how to read and write and who had started to teach him how to take care of animals, bringing him books and paper to draw on whenever he returned from one of his journeys outside the gates.

The other was Tsunade, a blonde-haired woman who demanded everyone's respect for being a great doctor and who looked after him like someone would look after a son perhaps. He wasn't sure about that, because he'd never known what having a mother felt like. But Tsunade hugged him, made sure he was fed and clothed, offered a listening ear whenever Kakashi wasn't available. That was enough for him.

They were the only two who didn't treat him like he was useless, who didn't look at him like he was even lower than the dirt underneath their shoes. With them, he felt like he mattered, like he wasn't alone.

He could deal with the townspeople's indifference towards him as long as he had them.

Perhaps, though, if he showed he had the skills to work with animals, other people would finally stop treating him like he was a burden and start treating him like he was actually part of them.

He startled when warm hands covered his own, halting the picking at his fingers that he'd unconsciously started doing. He bit his lip when he looked up and met her gaze.

"You listen to me carefully, all right, brat?" she said firmly and squeezed his hands. "You're not useless. _You matter_. You matter to me and you matter to Kakashi and let the rest of them all go to hell. You do not need to prove yourself to anyone but yourself. If they refuse to see you for who you are, they're the blind ones and they will come to regret that."

Gently she flicked his nose before pressing a soft kiss on his forehead. "You are an amazing young man, Naruto. It's their loss that they cannot see that."

"Thanks," he smiled waveringly, rubbing his nose with his right sleeve.

Her face softened and she cupped his left cheek for a moment before she stepped back. "It's time for you to go catch some rest. You don't want to be out too late now."

He looked outside, saw the setting sun and grimaced. "Yeah, you're right," he said despondently and slipped off the counter, straightening out his trousers half-heartedly. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

She nodded, smiled. "Stop by in the afternoon then we can eat together."

Perking up at that thought, he grinned and kissed her cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow then, baa-chan!"

"I'm not that old yet, you brat!" she yelled in response, throwing a pencil at him.

He evaded it with ease, cackling, and left her house before she could find something bigger to try to hit him with. His laughter dried up when he started walking away, the oppressive silence in the street sucking away all his joy.

There were other people still out, but they were hurrying along, not wanting to be still outside when darkness fell. People had been disappearing left and right since last month, ending up mutilated beyond recognition. The murders had enforced an evening clock in the otherwise lively town and anyone found outside after darkness had fallen had to answer to the guards.

They hadn't been sure who was behind all these murders until someone of the scouting party had returned, ranting and raving about some kind of _beast_. Naruto had been there when the man had stumbled through the gates in the late afternoon, covered in dried blood and his eyes so insane looking, he appeared like a mad man. He'd been ranting about some kind of ginormous beast, hiding out deep into the forest, who had demands for the town to be met.

He didn't know what exactly those demands were. The poor man had been taken away by three other guards and he hadn't heard or seen that man again after that. He knew Kakashi had been sent to meet up with the Beast early this morning to hear his demands. He hadn't liked that thought at all, scared that he would lose one of the only two people he cared about in this town. To be honest, he'd been a nervous wreck the entire morning until he'd seen Kakashi returning, looking incredibly grim. He had heard him say something about the Beast resembling a huge wolf, two heads taller than the man himself, but curiously capable of using human speech. That was all Naruto had been able to hear before Kakashi had been whisked away by the town council.

He hoped Kakashi would visit him tomorrow. Perhaps he would even be willing to tell him more about the Beast, like how he thought it was possible that the wolf like creature was capable of speaking. Animals couldn't do that, right? But apparently this one could. Or maybe it was because he wasn't really an animal, but a Beast and different rules adhered to Beasts then?

He still had so much to learn about animals and Beasts, but he clung to Kakashi's promise that he would soon take him to meet the man who was an expert in all sorts of animals. Maybe this man would even let him borrow some books! That would be really amazing.

"Hey you, hurry up, it's nearly dark!" one of the guards barked at him, scowling at him as he passed him together with another guard.

Naruto clumsily bowed and ran the rest of the way home, not eager to have another meeting with one of the guards.

His home was just an old shack, small with just two rooms – one bathroom and then one open space that combined a very small kitchen, his bed and a poor excuse for a living room. It was still his home, though. It held his drawings, the few books he'd received from Tsunade and Kakashi and his three blankets – the only stuff he still had left from his parents.

It wasn't much but it was his and it was home and that was enough for him.

He washed up quickly using the small tub and then changed into one of the two pyjamas he owned. They were threadbare at best and were definitely becoming too small; the trouser part didn't even cover his ankles anymore. Winter was finally slowly coming to an end, spring making a hesitant appearance now that it was March, so he would just have to tough it out for a couple of months more. Then the nights would be warmer and it wouldn't matter so much anymore that his trousers were becoming too short or that his shirt crept upwards every time he turned around in his lumpy bed.

After dousing the candle, he crawled into his bed and settled in for the night. The last sound he heard before he succumbed to sleep was some sort of vague howling, far off into the distance.

* * *

The door was kicked open and his blankets ripped off of him before he could process what was happening. He shot up, ready to complain to Kakashi for being such a bastard, but snapped his mouth shut when he found himself looking straight into Danzo's face instead.

Danzo, the second most powerful person in their own, who was flanked by three guards, all who looked at him with disturbing blank faces.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Naruto asked, injecting as much bravado as he could in his voice as he hastily got up.

He'd never liked Danzo. The man always looked at him with calculating eyes, as if he was trying to figure out what to do with him exactly.

The man offered him a thin smile; his gaze colder than the wind outside. "Uzumaki Naruto, you have been chosen to act as the sacrifice to the Beast. You will be taken to the Beast now as the town's offering."

Naruto gaped at him, not completely believing what exactly was happening. It was only when one of the guards reached out to grab him that he understood what was going to happen.

_They were going to sacrifice him._

Bring him to the Beast like a lamb to the slaughter bank.

"What?! No, you can't do this to me!" he yelled and punched the guard's arm away.

He evaded the second one, pushed the third one out of the way but right when he was about to make a run for it – he just had to get to Tsunade, she would protect him, she would make sure they wouldn't get to him, she was going to take care of him – a fist slammed straight into his jaw, knocking him flat on his arse.

Pain exploded in his face and he shouted when two sets of hands grabbed his arms tightly to the point of bruising. A vicious kick to the backside of his legs had him stop struggling for a moment as he had to catch his breath.

"Do not make this any more difficult than it has to be," Danzo told him icily, leaning on his cane casually. "You will be the sacrifice to the Beast; no amount of struggling will help you."

"But why me? Send somebody else! Send some of the livestock!" Naruto screamed, struggling anew.

Terror like he had never experienced before was rapidly trying to take a hold of him and he felt like he was drowning in it, like his lungs would never get enough air again.

They couldn't be giving him to the Beast, they couldn't hate him that much that they would see him killed to appease the Beast!

"Why would we send someone else?" Danzo asked; his voice dripping with scorn and disdain. "Everyone in this town has loved ones who would mourn them – everyone but you. Why should we put a family through mourning when we can send you – an orphan nobody cares for? Do not think for even one second that your life is more meaningful than that of everyone else in this town."

He nodded at the guards. "Take him away. Bring him straight to the cave."

"No, you can't do this to me! Let me go, you can't give me to him, don't do this!"

Naruto screamed and begged and pleaded, but the guards just ruthlessly pulled him along, past the row of houses straight to the gates. People were leaving their houses, staring at him as they dragged him screaming and pleading away from his home, but nobody lifted a finger to help him. They just stared at him without a hint of compassion.

"You can't give me to him, you can't, don't do this, please! Please, I don't want this, I want to live, let me go!" Snot and tears were mixing together on his face, the cold morning stinging his cheeks, his ankles, his hands.

They couldn't be doing this to him, they couldn't seriously give him to the Beast! But the gates came into view and he grew beyond desperate now, realising that they were really going to throw him to the wolf, leave him behind to die, let him be slaughtered like all those other people.

He lashed out with his foot, whirled his head around to bite and gnaw at one of the guard's hands, intent on ripping himself loose. One of the guards snarled and the last thing he saw before pain exploded in the back of his head and darkness consumed him, was the other guard spitting at him.

* * *

His head was pounding like mad when he woke up and every muscle in his body screamed when he moved. A whimper of pain escaped him when he slowly opened his eyes, registering the way several places in his body throbbed and ached.

His breathing caught when his brain registered where he was. He shot up, clenching his teeth together when that only made the pain worse, and barely dared to breathe as he took stock of his surroundings. He was in some sort of cave, lying on a thin layer of what appeared to be animal furs. There was a small fire burning a bit further away from him – the only source of light in the otherwise pitch black cave.

And right across from him, on the other end of the cave, there was a pair of glowing red eyes staring straight back at him.

He froze completely, knowing even without ever having seen him before that he was looking at the Beast himself. Unwillingly tears welled up in his eyes and slid down his cheeks, splattering apart on his thighs.

 _They had really done it._ They had really abandoned him, offered him to the Beast as a sacrifice.

Left him behind to be killed.

Even after years of being mistreated, of being ignored and taunted, of being told over and over again that he was useless, that he would never amount to anything – even after all that time, he hadn't wanted to believe that they would really abandon him just like that.

Like he didn't matter to them. _Like his life meant nothing to them_.

Like he was completely, utterly worthless; unworthy to be protected.

They had cast him aside as easily as they threw away garbage.

He hiccupped, a painful sob tearing out of him before he ruthlessly supressed the rest, clasping a hand across his mouth. Even knowing that only two people had ever cared for him – it _hurt_ to know that the town had so easily cast him aside.

He froze when the giant mass near the other wall moved, could only watch terrified as the Beast padded over to him. His claws made small clicking noises on the cave floor and when he passed by the fire, Naruto could see just how black his fur was.

The Beast halted a few feet in front of him, sitting down in an almost nonchalant manner.

"You're finally awake." The words were uttered in a low grumble, gnashed out through large teeth, heavy on the 'r'.

Naruto couldn't answer even if he had wanted to; his vocal chords numbed by the presence of the large Beast right in front of him.

"You're rather scrawny," the Beast continued, narrowing his eyes. He then snorted; the sound harsh in the open space. "Should not have expected anything else from them."

Naruto's heart nearly beat straight through his ribcage when the giant wolf leant forwards and sniffed at him. When he exhaled, his breath was a hot rush of air.

"You smell interesting," the Beast said contemplatively before he rose up on his paws and started walking away to Naruto's astonishment.

Having expected to have been eaten by now or at least bitten, he blurted out shocked, "Wait, where are you going? Aren't you going to kill me and eat me?"

He cringed just as soon as the words left his mouth, not believing how stupid he'd just been. For whatever reason the Beast was leaving him alone for now and the first thing he did was remind the creature that the town had dumped him here to be killed? What was wrong with him?

The Beast paused and turned his head around to stare at him. "Why would I want to eat you?"

His tone was filled with so much incredulity and astonishment and Naruto knew he should be relieved at hearing that, knowing that the Beast wasn't planning on killing him, but all he could think of was: _I'm not even good enough to be killed_.

Was he that unwanted, that undesirable that not even a Beast wanted him? How pathetic was he that even a monster didn't want to deal with him?

Maybe Danzo had been right after all: nobody would miss him, nobody would ever want him. Not even a creature of the night wanted to have him, how sad was that?

He swallowed, but the irritating lump in his throat didn't want to disappear. "Does that mean I can go home then?" he asked in a small voice, his fingers tightening in the fur underneath him.

Surely if the beast didn't want to eat him, he could leave? Apparently he wasn't good enough as a sacrifice, so there was no point in staying here. And while the thought that he wasn't even good enough for a Beast hurt, he clung to the hope that this meant he would see Tsunade again and Kakashi too. He would have to sneak into the town to avoid being seen by Danzo or any of the guards, but …

"You can't leave," the Beast shattered his hope mercilessly.

"What? Why not? You said you didn't - "

"Because you're mine," the wolf grumbled and scowled at him before stalking away from him, the darkness swallowing him up perfectly.

Leaving Naruto behind without a second thought.

And while he knew he should be happy that he wouldn't be killed, he only felt miserable; hot tears stinging his cheeks as he curled up in a tiny ball on the fur.

He wasn't even good enough to be a sacrifice. How pathetic was that?

* * *

He and the Beast fell into a strange routine. Every morning the Beast left the cave in order to hunt food. Some mornings he brought a bunch of dead rabbits, other days a large deer and even a couple of times a pig and some chickens, which he must have stolen from some farmer. Pigs and chickens didn't just roam around in the woods.

Naruto never saw him skin the animals but whenever the Beast brought him the meat, it was already skinned and divided into parts, ready to be roasted or cooked above the fire.

The first time the Beast brought him a skinned rabbit, the next morning after waking up in the cave, Naruto could only stare as the dead animal was dropped in front of him. The Beast shoved it towards him with his snout and an impatient huff, before turning around.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Naruto asked helplessly, looking away from the soulless dead eyes of the rabbit.

The Beast curled his upper lip, showing an impressive row of teeth. "Eat."

"I – I only eat meat for dinner," Naruto said meekly, his stomach revolting at eating meat so early in the day. At least, he assumed it was morning; he hadn't left the cave yet.

The Beast narrowed his eyes dangerously and Naruto shrank back, fearing what the wolf would do. They stared at each other for a while in silence, tension thick in the air, before the wolf released a sound which sounded similar to a sigh and disappeared.

When he returned half an hour later, he held half a loaf between his jaws. Naruto didn't ask where he had got the bread and the Beast didn't offer any answers. Every morning however there would be bread waiting for him and after three days a glass vial with jam appeared next to it. The Beast didn't bring any knife – whether he had simply forgotten that a human would need such a utensil to eat or he just didn't trust Naruto with a knife, the blond didn't know – so Naruto had to make do with using his fingers to spread the jam on the bread.

He never complained; this was more food than he usually had got back when he still lived in the village.

He could only leave the cave to drink water from a nearby stream, to bathe himself – only twice a week, more than that made the wolf antsy for some reason – and to do his business hidden between the bushes. While the Beast oddly was willing to give him some privacy to bathe or use the toilet, the moment Naruto was finished, he'd be herded back into the cave.

Naruto didn't know what the Beast wanted from him. The wolf made it clear that he wasn't planning on eating him, but why insist that he eat so much food then? Why get angry and growl when Naruto couldn't finish an entire rabbit? He barely talked to the blond boy, just sat or laid there, his red eyes tracking Naruto's movements, when he wasn't outside doing the gods knew what.

The nest – because that was what it was, a nest – acquired a couple of more furs in the weeks Naruto was there, which admittedly made it more comfortable to sleep. What was less comfortable was the way the Beast would come over at night to sniff at him before he would stalk away and sleep somewhere else. Naruto had no idea why the wolf kept doing that; all he knew was that it was incredibly unsettling to have such sharp teeth so close to his neck and back every time. Not as if he could do much against it, though. He was no match for the massive creature.

And so the days blended into weeks: with the wolf slinking in and out of the cave, bringing him food and new fur, but barely saying a word, his gaze stalking Naruto wherever he went.

Not touching him, not killing him. Just watching him.

Naruto knew he should be glad. In spite of being a sacrifice, he was allowed to live when others hadn't received that same mercy. He got more food and water than he ever had got in the town, save for those times Tsunade and Kakashi had him over for dinner. He had a rather comfortable 'bed' to sleep in, softer than his lumpy mattress ever had been. He should be glad.

But he wasn't. He missed Kakashi and Tsunade, missed spending late afternoons with them, knowing that they – unlike the rest of the town – did like him. He missed the old shack he'd called his home, missed his books and his blankets. Missed drawing pictures of animals he'd seen and the two people he'd adopted as his family.

Missed being able to talk without fearing one wrong word would have his throat ripped out.

And so one morning he made the decision to run.

* * *

He had lost count of how many weeks he'd been in the cave. It had to be April at the very least, maybe even May, but he couldn't know for sure.

He waited until the Beast had left for his routine hunting, knowing he had at most an hour before the wolf would return. He had spent two weeks counting the minutes it took for the Beast to come back from hunting whichever poor creature crossed his path that day. The Beast always took at least an hour before he would meander back into the cave; his kill dangling from his jaw.

That gave Naruto one hour to get away from the cave as far as possible. He had no idea whether that time would be enough to get out of the woods, when he had no clue how deep in the forest the cave was actually, but he had to try. He just had to run and keep running until he was out of the woods. And then … He didn't know yet what he would do once he was out of the woods, but that was a concern for later.

After the Beast left the cave, he waited five minutes, staring into the dark corridor without seeing anything. He knew he would need all the time he could get, but he also didn't want to risk the wolf returning because he heard him coming through the corridor.

Once he was certain the Beast wouldn't be able to hear him, he started running through the pitch black corridor, his hand against the wall the only thing keeping him from accidentally running into the stone.

The bright daylight had him squint when he stumbled out of the cave as it always did now when he'd spent hours in the darkness. He took a couple of seconds to look around and then chose a random direction, running south from the cave where the trees were more spread out, creating a vague path.

He had no shoes on – he'd woken up barefoot the first time in the cave and he'd never found his shoes back, so he assumed one of the guards had stolen them – which made running through the forest definitely not an easy task. Broken off twigs and all kinds of other sharp things pricked and sliced his feet as he ran through the woods; bushes and low hanging branches snagging at his hair and his clothes, making him stumble sometimes.

His breathing was too loud, ragged in the early morning air; his heart was beating like crazy in chest; his muscles screaming with the effort they were forced to endure after weeks of just walking around. His skin pricked unnaturally warm in the cool spring breeze, sweat coating the back of his neck and his chest, but he pushed on, forcing his tired legs to keep moving, to keep running, as fast and as far as possible!

He didn't see the steep decline on time.

One second his feet were hitting firm ground, the next there was nothing there anymore and he fell down, hitting the ground hard as he rolled down the hill; his scream cut off mid-air when he landed painfully onto his back.

Disoriented, he pushed himself up on his elbows and looked up. He was lying at the foot of a hill; the forest floor above him cutting off almost abruptly as it went over into the decline of the hill. On his other side the forest floor continued above him, as if a giant had scooped up a part of the forest. The other side of the hill aligned perfectly with the path Naruto had been following, which explained why he hadn't noticed the decline on time.

Groaning miserably, his whole body throbbing like he was one giant bruise, he sat up slowly, carefully rotating his feet to make sure he hadn't twisted them somehow. There was only a slight twinge of pain, most likely from abruptly having lost his footing, so he cautiously got up, biting his lip.

His entire body trembled with the shock of the pain and the unexpected fall, but he forced himself to ignore it. He just had to keep going, keep running, and then he would be safe somehow.

When he turned around, he came face to face with a giant, dark brown bear.

The bear stood several feet away from him, looking annoyed as if Naruto had disturbed him. As the boy stood there frozen, terrified beyond belief, the bear growled threateningly and rose up on his hind legs.

The bear was enormous! It towered high above him, being at least four heads taller and five times as big, and it led out a huge roar when it fell back on all four paws; the force of his weight making the ground tremble.

"Good bear, nice bear," Naruto whispered scared, slowly shuffling back. His eyes darted across the forest floor, but to his growing panic he saw nothing he could use as a weapon, not even a broken off stick! What was he supposed to do now?!

The bear growled loudly again – and ran straight at him.

Screaming, Naruto hastily threw himself to the right and rushed away from the back of the hill. He heard the bear make an impact with the grass hill before it snarled and –

Thundering footsteps quickly started gaining on him.

_He was going to die._

Right here, right now, he was going to be killed. A hysterical chuckle burst out of him as he desperately started running in a zigzag pattern, hoping to throw off the bear. How ironic was it that he had run away from the Beast – only to end up as a meal for another animal?

The bear was growling and snarling behind him and even though he knew it wouldn't do him any good, knew there was nobody who could help him now, he screamed, "PLEASE, HELP ME!"

Something firm grazed his back and the touch was heavy enough to throw him off balance. He lost his footing and fell down, scraping his knees and his palms as he hastily rolled himself around, just in time to avoid a large heavy paw slamming down next to him. That was only a short reprieve.

He was right in front of the bear and he closed his eyes and started to cry, knowing this was it, there was no escape. In just a couple of seconds the bear would tear right through him and –

An extremely loud, vicious howl tore through the air and then what felt like a burst of wind swept past Naruto, quickly followed by more vicious snarling and growling.

Eyes flying open, Naruto could only scramble out of the way and gape in shock at the fight happening in front of him. _The Beast was attacking the bear_.

The wolf snarled, his teeth gleaming in the sunlight as he snapped and bit and gnawed; blood spurting through the air. The Beast yowled in pain when the bear slammed one of his paws hard against his right side, but the creature didn't let that assault stop him. Again and again, he attacked the bear, ranking large claws against the bear's sides and back, biting at his paws, snarling and growling furiously all the while.

The bear gave as good as he got, swiping and smacking at the wolf, but then the Beast jumped up, closed his massive jaw around the bear's neck and _twisted_ his head away, tearing off fur and flesh and muscles, ripping straight through the arteries.

Blood instantly started gushing out of the gaping wound and the bear uttered one last pitiful whimper before it fell down heavily, colouring the ground red with its blood.

The Beast jumped off the bear, heavily panting, and stood staring at it for a moment as if he wanted to make certain that the bear was really dead and not just faking it. Then he turned his head and gazed at Naruto; his jaw dripping with blood.

Like a dam which burst, Naruto started sobbing; shivers raking through his body violently. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean – I didn't mean - " But the rest of his words got swallowed up in even more tears and snot, as pain and shock finally fully settled in; the realisation that _he could have died_ hitting him mercilessly.

If the Beast hadn't been there, if he hadn't killed the bear, then Naruto would have, he would have …

"Are you hurt?" the Beast asked, approaching him slowly; his bushy tail agitatedly swishing back and forth.

Naruto looked down, but he was shivering too hard, his vision too blurry with tears to actually take stock of any visible injuries. He was definitely aching, but he honestly couldn't tell whether that was because of actually getting hurt or whether he was just trembling so hard, his muscles were protesting and locking up.

The Beast grunted and pushed his snout against Naruto's shoulder, nearly knocking the boy over with the unexpected force. When Naruto just stared at him baffled, the wolf grunted again and lowered his large form to the ground.

"Get on my back. I'm taking you back," the Beast grumbled and when Naruto took too long to move, he growled lowly and pulled back his lips, showing off his teeth.

Squeaking, Naruto scrambled onto the Beast's back, not fancying finding out whether the Beast's odd tolerance for him had its limits. He had barely wound his hands carefully around some tufts of hair when the Beast broke out in a run. Yelping in fright Naruto bent down and wrapped his arms firmly around the wolf's neck, hanging on for dear life as the Beast almost seem to fly instead of run through the forest.

They rushed past the trees, past another stream of water, basically flew over bushes, startling the animals within. When the Beast started slowing down, Naruto cautiously opened his eyes again, only realising it now that he had closed them, and lifted his head. He swallowed when he recognised the entrance to the cave, reluctantly impressed with how fast the Beast had brought him here again.

It made him realise with an uncomfortable flip of his stomach that he had never stood a chance against the giant wolf. No matter how fast he had run, no matter how much distance he would have put between the two of them, it would never have been enough. The Beast would have found him regardless.

Not even stopping to let the boy off his back, the Beast trotted inside the cavern, plunging them both into pure darkness when he followed the corridor the centre of the cave. He made a beeline for the nest, bending down so that Naruto slipped off his back and into the middle of it.

Almost immediately the wolf pressed his snout against Naruto's scraped up hands and the blond boy yelped in surprise; the cold, wet nose a shock to his system. The Beast ignored him and sniffed at his bruised knees and chafed feet next before growling lowly and retreating a bit.

"You're hurt," he bit out, sounding royally pissed about that.

"I – I fell down," Naruto admitted in a small voice.

The uncertainty of the entire situation, the not knowing what was going to happen to him now, was nerve-wracking. The Beast had rescued him, yes, but he only had to do that because Naruto had tried to run away. What would the Beast do now, now that his sacrifice had tried to escape?

Naruto thought he was going to throw up any second now, so nauseous did he feel and none of the nausea was because of the tumble he'd experienced, nor the adrenaline of the encounter with the bear.

Red eyes narrowed dangerously. "You're not bleeding too badly," the wolf said gruffly and then suddenly his large, red tongue lapped at Naruto's left feet from his heel to his toes.

"What are you doing?" Naruto squealed, squirming away from the odd, ticklish sensation. The wolf's tongue felt oddly smooth and warm against his scraped feet.

A low snarl had him freezing, staring wide-eyed at the creature.

"Don't. Move."

"I won't move, promise," Naruto squeaked, too scared of annoying the Beast to try to move away again, even when the lapping and licking at his skin drove him nearly mad with the ticklish sensation.

Once the wolf deemed him sufficiently licked clean, he allowed Naruto to retreat into the furthest corner of the nest. He didn't leave, though. Instead, he sat down on his haunches and stared at the boy with piercing eyes.

"Why did you leave?"

The oddly plaintive tone of the wolf had Naruto breaking down abruptly. "I – I just want to feel normal again, okay?! The t-town leaders dumped me here as your sacrifice because no-nobody would miss me and I'm really g-glad that you don't eat me, but I just want to talk to someone again and I can't do that, because I don't want to anger you! But – but I'm all alone here and I don't know what you want from me! I just – I just want to be somewhere where people _want me_."

The waterfall of words ended just as abruptly as it had started and he buried his face in his hands, trying to smother his sobs as much as he could. They still broke through, though, and his chest started hurting from the force of them, but he couldn't _stop_. After weeks of seeing nothing but a large cave and an even more gigantic wolf, he was so _tired_. He wanted to be somewhere else, a place where people actually wanted him, where he wouldn't be abandoned to be a sacrifice to a Beast and where he wouldn't be kept around like some odd toy.

He didn't even know whether he was a toy for the wolf. The creature fed him and lurked nearby, but he barely spoke and he definitely didn't give off the impression that he actually wanted Naruto to be here. Why was he even here? He was the sacrifice, yes, but what did that _mean_?

Why was the Beast keeping him around, feeding him and keeping him warm, when he didn't seem to want to do anything else? What was the point of him staying here when the wolf just stared at him or was gone for hours on end?

Why was he here when it was becoming more than obvious that nobody wanted him?

The wolf's sigh was like a gust of wind and Naruto flinched, pulling his legs up so he could bury his face into them. If he'd annoyed the Beast to the point he would finally be killed, he didn't want to see it coming.

Then a strangely smooth and husky voice filled the cavern. "Look at me."

Mystified by the unknown voice – had someone managed to sneak up on them in the cave? How was that possible? Naruto hadn't seen a living human being anywhere near since he'd been dumped here – he slowly raised his head, wary of what he would encounter.

His mouth dropped open at the sight which greeted him.

There stood a man in front of the nest, right in the spot where the wolf had been. His skin was a delicate shade of pale, the kind of fair complexion Naruto had heard was what the nobility were striving to have. His hair was as black as a moonless night; long bangs framing his aristocratic looking face. His eyes were an interesting shade of black, smouldering not unlike the fire burning in the pit behind them. His mouth was coloured a faint pink as if it had been kissed by a rose. His body was –

 _Completely naked_ , Naruto realised with reddening cheeks and he almost choked in his own saliva. "You're naked!" he squeaked shocked, slapping a hand across his mouth.

Muscles rippled impressively when the man crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow in a judging manner. "That's the first thing you notice?" he asked unimpressed.

"Because you're naked!" Naruto spluttered and he blushed even fiercer when his eyes wandered downwards almost unwillingly. He quickly brought them back up to the stranger's face, who was lightly smirking as if he had noticed where Naruto's gaze had almost landed on. "Why are you naked?!"

"Because shifting with clothes on is impossible," the man answered dryly. "Or do you think I hide my clothes underneath my fur?"

"Your fur …" Naruto repeated dazedly; alarm bells going off in his head. If the stranger was talking about his fur, did that mean that he –

"You're the Beast!" he gasped stumped.

"Took you long enough," the man – Beast – said casually and dropped down on his haunches; his hands resting on his knees.

"But – if you can shift, why didn't you do that before?" the blond boy asked dumbfounded.

The man shrugged; the motion smooth and not at all awkward despite his position. "I didn't want to spring too many new things on you all at once. I wanted you to get used to my wolf side first."

"But why change now then?"

The man cocked his head slightly to the right. "Because you need my human form now and not the wolf one," he answered frankly, as if it was that easy.

As if it was really that simple for him to have changed forms completely all because Naruto had wanted – all because he needed –

Nobody, except for Tsunade and Kakashi, had ever gone out of their way to do something for him. No one in the town, except for those two, had ever done something to comfort him or to soothe him or even to help him out. He'd learnt early on not to expect anything from anyone and here the Beast was, changing forms, _turning human_ _for him_ , all because he'd been stupid and had broken down like a baby.

Even after having wanted to abandon the wolf, the Beast had changed forms all to help him calm down. He wasn't obligated to do anything to help Naruto, especially not after he'd already saved his life from that bear, yet here he was, completely human all because Naruto had said he wanted to feel normal again.

He'd shed his wolf identity _for Naruto_.

Nobody had ever done something as meaningful as that for him.

This time when tears started dripping down his cheeks anew, strong arms closed around him and pulled him tightly against a bare chest; a nose rubbing across his temple.

And despite the tips of claws he could feel pressing against his back through the thin cloth of his shirt, in spite of the strength he could practically feel thrumming through the Beast's human body, knowing that the man holding him could easily slid his throat before he could stop him …

He'd never felt so safe before.


	2. Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: I have no idea why I insist on giving a chapter count when I haven't even reached the final scene yet. As some of you might already have guessed (if you're a long time reader of mine, you'll definitely not be surprised to hear this) this story is going to have at least one more part if not more, depending on which scenes still pop up :') Because clearly my brain hates me and can't just let me finish a story in two parts.
> 
> Thank you so much for your lovely comments and the kudos! I can't believe the first chapter alone already received more than a 100 kudos! I'm so happy with that!
> 
> Warnings: Minor time skips; explanation about Bites; Sasuke getting a tad too intense at times
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like it!

**Part 2**

He sat on the bear's fur in front of the fire, trailing his fingers cautiously across the stiff fur. The Beast had returned to the bear's carcass four days ago and had dragged it back all the way to their cave where he had proceeded to remove its fur entirely. He had left it out to dry properly in front of the fire.

Naruto wondered if the Beast considered this fur to be some kind of trophy, because he had managed to kill the animal. It felt a bit unsettling to sit down on something that had been a living animal just four days ago, but it was oddly fascinating as well.

"Why did you ask for a sacrifice?" he asked out of the blue, holding his breath when the Beast – again in his human form, and still very much naked – turned to look at him.

It had been bothering him for quite some time now; the Beast had made it clear he wasn't going to eat him, but why had he asked for a sacrifice in the first place then? The deaths before were a clear indication that the Beast wasn't bothered by killing humans and there was nobody strong enough to take him on. So what had made him decide to stop killing the townspeople in exchange for a sacrifice he wasn't even planning on killing?

Had he decided from the start that he wasn't going to kill whoever ended up being his sacrifice? Or was Naruto somehow special? Why, though?

"Took you long enough to ask," the Beast smirked, crossing his arms.

Naruto kept his gaze firmly fixated on his face and definitely not any lower. The Beast had been switching between both forms several times now over the last couple of days, but the blond still wasn't used to seeing him fully naked. He didn't think he would ever get used to it and the Beast didn't seem to understand the need to cover himself up.

"It's just you and me, what does it matter?" he'd said and shrugged when Naruto had meekly asked him yesterday whether he was thinking of covering himself up.

"It's been something I've been wondering about for a while now," was all he said, giving the other man an expectant look.

He started worrying that he was becoming too noisy when the silence endured, but then the Beast sighed and rolled his shoulders. He wandered over to the fireplace and sat down on the fur, crossing his legs and resting his arms on his knees.

"I left my family behind to look for a mate – a partner," he clarified at seeing Naruto's confused look.

"A partner – like in the romantic sense? Like a spouse?" Naruto questioned, intrigued in spite of himself.

He hadn't considered it before, but the Beast had to have come from somewhere; he had to have at least parents. Was there a whole family of Beasts out there like this one? Could they all change into wolves freely?

The Beast cocked his head slightly to the left. "I suppose you could call it that, yes. We call them mates. I went searching for one and figured I could settle down in the meantime here. Then some humans crossed my path and tried to attack me." He shrugged. "So I killed them."

Naruto swallowed uneasily. The casual way in which the Beast had mentioned killing people made his stomach churn, but if it was self-defence as the wolf shifter seemed to imply – could he really hold the murders against him then? Killing was never okay, but it sounded like those people had attacked him first.

"They kept bothering me, so I just got rid of them," the Beast continued, narrowing his eyes slightly. "But then your village sent me a messenger and I wanted to see what they would offer me if I asked for a sacrifice."

The look he levelled the blond boy with was thoughtful when he added, "I believed they would send me livestock as I never specified it had to be a human."

"And then they gave me," Naruto said hollowly, bitterness filling him as he realised that he had been dumped like garbage here for no reason.

They had handed him over instead of cows or pigs; they had considered him to be less worth than livestock which would have met their end underneath the butcher's hands anyway. He had always known that most of the villagers didn't like him, but to hear it confirmed that they had preferred seeing him die instead of a cow or a pig …

_It stung._

"And then they gave you," the Beast confirmed and his eyes gleamed in a curious way. "Which makes me think that they weren't so useless after all."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked confused, startling slightly when a cool hand brushed across his ankle before the Beast rose up smoothly, stepping away from the fur before he shifted into his wolf form.

"I'm going to hunt dinner for us," the Beast said; his voice gravelly in this form.

"Erm, okay." Naruto could only watch bemused how the giant wolf disappeared into the corridor to head outside.

Leaving him to feel like he was missing something huge, something important.

But what?

* * *

Considering that the Beast hadn't snapped at him when he'd asked him a question, Naruto felt brave enough later that evening to ask another question which had been on his mind for some time now.

Plucking at the last bits of fish clinging to the skeleton, he asked tentatively, "Do you have a name?"

The Beast paused, discarding his own skeleton on a broad leaf. He was back in his human form, sitting on the edge of the nest next to Naruto. "My name's Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke."

"Oh." Naruto was a bit taken aback by the normal sounding name. He hadn't known what he had expected, but his brain seemed unable to compute linking the normal human name with the Beast in front of him.

Then again, given that the man could change into a human, it wasn't that abnormal for him to have a human name, no? What did he know about Beasts, though?

"You thought I wouldn't have a name?" the Beast – Sasuke – asked amused.

Naruto shrugged, a bit embarrassed. "I don't know. Not like I know much about people shifting into animals, you know?"

"Well, we hardly go around announcing ourselves to the world," Sasuke said dryly. "People tend to react violently towards our kind."

"They might say the same about you," Naruto blurted out and cringed. Oh god, way to go, offending the other man straight away. His stupid mouth might actually cause Sasuke to change his mind about keeping him alive after all.

The dark haired man didn't appear offended, though. He smirked instead. "Most likely. I'm not going to pretend to be innocent here: sometimes it's just fun to let loose. You don't expect any of the predatory animals to hold back when they get accosted by the humans, so why should we hold back? You come near my den and you pay the price, it's as simple as that."

"How come I'm different?" Naruto coloured red instantly the second the words left his mouth. He hadn't meant to ask that, had wanted to ask more about this whole mate thing, but he was in a stupid mood apparently and he swallowed the last piece of fish with difficulty.

He was startled when Sasuke leant towards him abruptly, bringing their faces closely together. "Because you are," he murmured, his dark eyes trailing down Naruto's face to his body. "My people tend to heavily focus on scents, as that tells us a lot about each other. The second you ended up in front of the cave, I thought you smelt great. Divine even." His voice slipped into a rumble at the end and his warm breath caressing Naruto's cheeks made the blond boy shiver.

"Great, like great to eat?" Naruto squeaked, his belly performing several funny flips when Sasuke's nose brushed against his left cheek before sniffing a path to the hollow beneath his ear.

His comment made Sasuke huff in amusement. "Not the type of eating you most likely have in mind," he smirked.

Blue eyes blinked and Naruto again felt like he was missing something. "Are there different types of eating then?" he asked innocently.

That for some reason made Sasuke chuckle, the low sound doing funny things to Naruto's lower belly. "Perhaps I will show you the different type soon," he said, pulling away and grabbing the discarded skeleton of the fish. "I'm going to throw these away."

"Okay," Naruto said confused, leaning back on his hands. He really was missing something here, wasn't he? "Oh, I'm Uzumaki Naruto," he added, remembering belatedly that he hadn't introduced himself yet.

Sasuke flashed him a quick grin, collecting the remains of his fish in the leaves before wrapping them up tightly. "Nice to meet you, Naruto."

Naruto watched him disappear into the corridor and thought for the first time that perhaps it wouldn't be so awful to stay here.

At the very least Sasuke seemed to like having him here, which was a lot more than he could claim of the villagers.

* * *

They settled into a new routine. While Sasuke still went out to hunt for their food, he was now more likely to eat it in his human form together with Naruto. With May having entered the country and the weather turning warmer, they found themselves spending more time outside. Sometimes Sasuke wandered around with him in his wolf form, sometimes in his human form.

Naruto liked it best when he was in his human form, though, because it made reading his face a lot easier. While Sasuke was capable of speaking when he was a wolf, this form of him made it more difficult for Naruto to decipher what exactly he was thinking and feeling. He wasn't going to lie: it was also a lot more pleasant to look at his handsome face than the scary wolf one.

He knew Sasuke wasn't going to attack him in his wolf form – if he really wanted to, he would have done so already, so Naruto took comfort in that – but that didn't take away the fact that his wolf form was still terrifying to look at sometimes. Perhaps he would get used to it eventually but for now he preferred looking at Sasuke's human face.

He was sitting on the riverbank, his legs up to his knees in the water with Sasuke resting in his wolf form next to him, when he spotted two foxes on the other edge of the river. They were sniffing at each other, uttering odd squeaking noises. One of them started snapping at the other, but the other one darted out of the way and jumped on top of the first one.

The two foxes rolled around, disturbing bushes with their fighting, making birds fly away in fright, until the noise suddenly stopped and one of the foxes laid submissively down on the ground. It was only when they disappeared underneath the shrub together that Naruto realised the two foxes were probably forming a couple now and were on their way to make baby foxes.

That realisation made him glance at Sasuke, who appeared undisturbed by the noise of the foxes. His eyes were closed, but the tips of his ears twitched faintly, showing that he wasn't actually asleep. He would probably jump up the second he detected a threat.

Thinking about the two foxes made Naruto wonder about Sasuke's own plans. He'd said that he had come here because he was searching for a mate – yet for as long as Naruto had been here, he'd only seen him go outside to hunt. Was he no longer interested in getting a mate? Or was Naruto's presence ruining his efforts to find one? If so, why not tell him to leave?

"I can hear you thinking," Sasuke drawled and red eyes opened, flicking up at him. "What's on your mind?"

Naruto pursed his lips together and rubbed his right cheek with the back of his hand self-consciously. "Just wondering … You said you were looking for a mate and that's why you came all the way here, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, how are you going to find a mate if I'm here?" He bit down on his lower lip. "Don't I – am I not in the way then?"

"My, you really are quite innocent, aren't you?" Sasuke huffed amused and with the sound of twisting and cracking bones reshaping themselves, the wolf disappeared, leaving the man behind.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto demanded, scowling.

Sasuke moved so quickly he didn't have a chance to react. One moment he was still sprawled out near the tree, the next he was leaning over Naruto. The shock of having Sasuke so close to him – _whilst naked_ – had Naruto yelping in surprise and he fell back on the ground, staring as if hypnotised in burning black eyes. The dark haired man bent even closer to him, so close that Naruto felt like he was being swallowed right up by that intense gaze.

"I've already found my mate," Sasuke murmured; his hands braced on each side of Naruto.

"Oh? Erm, where is she then?" Naruto inquired; his voice higher pitched than he would like.

He couldn't lie, however: having Sasuke this close to him, on top of him, was intimidating and it was doing weird things to his body, especially when he couldn't smell anything else but Sasuke's pure essence, musky undertones mixed with the scent of a forest after a fresh bout of rain.

Sasuke's mouth pulled back in a smile, showing off his impressive fans which lengthened underneath the wide-eyed gaze of the boy. " _So innocent_ ," he breathed out and goose bumps abruptly broke out all over Naruto's arms and back. "I'm not talking about a girl, Naruto."

"Ab-about who are you talking then?" He barely got the words past his lips, his mouth drying up underneath Sasuke's intense gaze.

The intensity into those black eyes turned calculating and Sasuke tilted his head slightly to the left. "I wonder if I should tell you now or whether I should still wait," he mused. "You're still so innocent after all …"

That had Naruto bristling and he jutted out his chin, retorting annoyed, "How can I stop being innocent if you won't tell me anything!"

Sasuke snapped his teeth at him lazily. "Be careful, Naruto. Words have power, you know, and certain words might make one … _snap_."

He should heed the implicit warning, he knew, but it had been established a while ago that his self-preservation skills sucked around the wolf. So instead of shutting up, he said, "Maybe then I would finally get some answers."

"Oho," Sasuke said impressed. "Not that meek after all, hm? Well, if you're sure …" he trailed off, raising an eyebrow.

Naruto felt brave enough to give him a challenging look, even when a small voice in the back of his mind was berating him for it, calling him an idiot to challenge a wolf. God, he really was an idiot, wasn't he? It was amazing that he hadn't been killed yet!

"I've already found my mate – I'm looking right at him now," Sasuke said.

Heat instantly flooded Naruto's cheeks, at the same moment his voice seemed to have deserted him completely. He could only gape at the wolf shifter, who smirked and bent down to rub his nose from Naruto's right cheek to his ear, before dipping down to breathe in his neck.

"I told you before that you're mine, didn't I?"

"But – but that was the first day!" Naruto spluttered shocked. "You can't just decide I'm your mate on the first day!"

Sasuke shrugged almost laconically. "Why not? I'm not bound by silly human customs. I like how you smell, how you look, and you feel right to both me and my wolf. That's enough for me. Do you really think I would have let you live if you hadn't captured my interest?"

The atmosphere around them changed, the air becoming charged with tension. "I have no qualms about killing humans, which you should know. If you didn't smell this good, if you didn't feel right, I would have torn your throat out with my teeth before you would have even got the chance to wake up. I would have ripped open your belly and feasted upon your insides before you could have done so much as scream," he rumbled, his eyes bleeding red.

Naruto could only lie there frozen, only now really comprehending for the first time how close he had come to dying.

"But I didn't. Because you smell utterly divine, because you feel so right to both my human and my wolf side," Sasuke continued, his voice husky and smooth now; the redness in his eyes receding. "Because I know you'll be the perfect mate for me, because my wolf and I know you're going to give me perfect cubs. I didn't kill you, because I knew I had finally found you."

"I – I don't know …" Naruto stammered, uncertain how to react to the confession.

Never in a million years had he expected to hear that the wolf shifter was in love with him. At seventeen years of age he'd seen plenty of people falling in love with each other back at the village, but with his status as a social pariah he hadn't experienced a relationship yet. That wasn't so say he had never fancied someone before. He had for a time liked a local girl, but she had always looked straight through him as if he was mere air and his feelings for her had died out once he realised she would never return them.

To now hear that Sasuke liked him enough to want to take him on as his mate, even though they hadn't known each other for that long … It was mindboggling and quite overwhelming to say the least.

What could he have possibly done to capture the wolf's interest? Well, apparently he smelt good …

"You don't have to say anything just yet," Sasuke said and he was calm once more. He sat up, allowing Naruto to slowly rise up too. "That's why I said I wanted to wait a little while longer before telling you this. To give you time to get used to me."

"Are you sure you wouldn't want someone else?" Naruto asked cautiously.

Sure, he smelt right to the wolf – but what if there was someone else out there who smelt even better but Sasuke just didn't know it yet because he wouldn't go out to look? He had left his family specifically to search for a partner; that had to mean he had to have some sort expectations of this person, no?

Black eyes regarded him calmly. "I'm certain. Scent doesn't lie to me."

"Oh." Naruto looked down, a bit uncomfortable now and not knowing what to say.

He hadn't really considered the possibility of liking Sasuke in a romantic sense. Certainly he could admit that the man was very handsome, easily the most handsome man he had ever seen, but a relationship couldn't be built on looks alone.

A light touch on his right ankle had a shock running through him and he snapped his head up, staring at the dark haired man.

Sasuke smiled wryly. "Don't think too hard about this, all right? There's no pressure for you to give me an answer now."

"But what if I won't be able to give you a good answer?" Naruto asked in a small voice, fidgeting with a loose thread of his shirt.

Sasuke stilled, looking remarkably well like the predator he was even though he wasn't moving. Then he gave a light shrug and a faint smile. "Then you won't," he answered simply and stood up, stretching out his arms.

Instantly Naruto looked away, his cheeks burning, before he could catch sight of something a bit too private. Sasuke still refused to wear any type of clothes, though he had acquiesced to finding something else to sit on after Naruto had offhandedly mentioned that his arse was growing numb from constantly sitting on the cold cave floor.

He didn't know how Sasuke had done it and the man refused to explain, but now there was a crudely crafted table and two chairs placed in a nook in the cavern.

"I'm going for a dip in the water," Sasuke announced and sauntered over to the river, getting into the cool water without even the slightest flinch.

Naruto watched him sink lower in the water, droplets in black hair catching the sunlight and making them shine like diamonds, and wondered whether he would ever be capable of giving Sasuke the answer he so clearly wanted.

* * *

"Wake up."

The command, spoken in a low gritty voice, had Naruto waking up abruptly and he sat up, disorientated. The cave was pitch black, no fire having been made yet, and he jumped when a cold, wet nose pressed against his bare arm.

"Sasuke?" he whispered, voice rough with sleep and thoroughly confused. Was it morning already? But shouldn't a fire be lit then? That was the only way for him to be able to see in the cave, seeing as he didn't have Sasuke's special night vision.

"Get on my back, I want to show you something," the wolf rumbled and fur brushed against Naruto's skin when Sasuke moved closer.

"Is it morning already?" Naruto inquired bemused, but nevertheless clambered onto Sasuke's broad back, sliding his arms around the shifter's neck.

This was only the second time he sat on Sasuke's back and the first time he was able to catalogue what he felt instead of being in shock after a bear attack. Sasuke's fur was long, but smooth and felt incredibly soft to the touch as if he took regular baths with a lot of soap.

The mental image of a soaking wet gigantic wolf with suds covering his body had Naruto grinning and he almost missed Sasuke's reply.

"… still night, but I want to show you something before the sun rises," he was saying as he trotted into the corridor.

"Okay," Naruto mumbled and yawned, draping his body across Sasuke's back. He was still so very sleepy and Sasuke felt incredibly warm underneath him, making it difficult for him to keep his eyes open.

It was still quite warm outside despite it being the middle of the night and he knitted his eyebrows together, the muggy weather annoying him slightly. It was much better deep in the cave, where the air was comfortably cool.

Some bushes rustled with the movements of an animal, but Sasuke ignored those, walking to the left of the cave. There was an owl hooting softly somewhere high above them and if Naruto concentrated hard, he thought he could hear a dog howling in the far distance.

"Where are we going?" he asked, peering into the darkness.

There was enough moonlight streaming through the gaps in the leaf roof that he could make out the outlines of the trees and even some larger bushes, but it was still too dark for him to be able to recognise the path they were taking – if they were even taking a familiar path. While he and Sasuke spent most of their days outside now, it wasn't like Naruto was all that familiar yet with his surroundings and he was likely to get lost if he strayed too far from Sasuke.

Not that the wolf shifter ever allowed him to walk too far away.

"You'll see," was the frustratingly vague reply and Naruto huffed, pouting slightly.

Some fireflies were still out and about at this late hour and Naruto spent some time watching them hover near the ground, amusing himself with the thought that they acted like some kind of mini-lanterns, doing their best to illuminate the path.

After a while he realised they were going uphill and that made him sit up straighter, interest chasing away the last vestiges of sleep. Where was Sasuke taking them?

Soon they arrived at the top of the hill, no trees here to block the view of the sky and Sasuke came to a halt near the edge. "Look."

At first Naruto had no idea where to look. The sky was quite pretty, no doubt, with its numerous stars glittering and the full moon a bright luminous orb. Then he looked down and he gasped softly, getting off Sasuke's back as he gazed in wonder at the sight which met him.

There was a lake at the bottom of the hill and it reflected the moon beautifully, as if the moon herself was dipping into the water. And right above the surface of the water were dozens of glowing spots dancing and twirling around. Whenever they danced too low, they brushed against the surface of the water, making perfectly round ripples appear. Those ripples grew in size before fading away and the illuminous spots would dance in circles above those ripples.

One hand braced on Sasuke's shoulder, Naruto breathed out, "This is such a wonderful view. What are they? Are they some sort of creature?"

Sasuke hummed, the sound a bit funny in his wolf form. "They're from the Other Side. On full moons they gather here to perform their dances."

"I've never seen them before," Naruto murmured in awe, his eyes locked on the pretty vision of the Fae dancing above the water.

"You wouldn't. They're very careful to keep to themselves."

Blue eyes tore away from the beautiful vision in alarm. "Wait, is this okay then? Shouldn't we leave them alone?"

"We are leaving them alone," Sasuke answered calmly, his gaze fixated on the creatures down at the lake. "They know we're here; as long as we don't bother them, they don't mind us watching." His lips twitched. "They like to perform for others too much to send us away."

The blond boy hesitated, his eyes shooting back and forth between the dancing Fae and the giant wolf next to him. "So this really is okay?"

Red eyes flicked towards him. "I wouldn't have brought you here if it wasn't safe."

Naruto relaxed then and turned to look at the Fae again. They really were quite a sight to behold, he mused, with their glittering wings and their luminous bodies. Their moves were in perfect sync as they started drawing eights above the water before flying into spirals.

"I sometimes come here to watch them dance," Sasuke murmured, his tail idly swishing back and forth. "I like this spot because it's deep enough into the woods that nothing will bother me. The Ones from the Other Side performing on a full moon is an added bonus."

Naruto's belly squirmed funnily at the realisation that Sasuke had invited him into his private spot. The cave was Sasuke's den, of course, so it was private in its own way, but this spot on the hill felt different, more intimate even in spite of being in the open air.

"Thank you for showing me this," Naruto said softly; his fingers absently curling around a tuft of black hair.

"I thought you might appreciate this view," Sasuke said and if a wolf could smile, he would be doing so now.

Appreciate the view Naruto did, but as he furtively shot a glance at the wolf next to him, he couldn't help but think that while the dancing Fae might be beautiful, they couldn't really hold a candle to the wolf shifter sitting next to him.

* * *

Sasuke's confession at the riverbank kept lingering in the back of Naruto's mind and as the days passed by, the weather only growing hotter with the occasional storm to cool things down, he started thinking more and more about it.

He had never considered having a man as a partner before, but then again he also had never expected that the village would readily abandon him to what they all believed to be a ruthless murderous monster, so his world view definitely had reshaped itself quite a bit over the past couple of months.

How would it work, however, if he did decide to accept Sasuke's confession? Would he be required to turn into a wolf too? If so, how would that work? And what about a family? Would Sasuke want to have children? Given his comment about the cubs, yes, he would want a family.

Again, however, how would that work? Naruto was a boy; he didn't have the necessary parts to create a child and bear it. His bodily state kind of put a damper on the whole cubs thing, didn't it?

"How would it work?" he asked out of the blue one evening.

He guessed it had to be around June now; they were sitting right outside the cave, the smoke of the small fire keeping the bugs away. The sun was only slowly setting; its dark red and rose pink rays reflected on the trees making them look like they were on fire.

Sasuke stirred, turning his head to look at him. He was lying stretched out next to the blond in the grass in front of the cave. He was in his human form this time after having traipsed around the woods as a wolf for a while.

"How would what work?" he questioned; the sunrays catching onto the blueish shine of his hair.

Naruto licked his lips, feeling somewhat embarrassed for some reason. "If I – if I decide to say yes, would I have to turn into a wolf too then? How would that work? And babies, you said you wanted babies, but it's not like I can have them, right? I'm a boy and boys can't have babies, so how could we possibly have kids together?" All the questions left him in a rush and he gasped for air at the end, feeling his cheeks sting slightly with heat.

"One question at a time," Sasuke chuckled and he felt his cheeks heat up even more. The older man sat up and ran a hand through his hair, stretching out his arms before turning around to face Naruto fully. "While you turning into a wolf would ensure that you live as long as I do, you don't have to become one if you don't want to. I know some other couples of which one of them remains human and they work it out."

"But if I decide to turn into one, how would that happen then?" Naruto bit down on his lip; a part of him wondering just how old Sasuke could become if turning into a wolf would make sure that Naruto became that old as well.

"First, I would make an impression in the ground with my paw and fill that one with blood from my wrist and mix it together with water that has been purified by the full moon," Sasuke explained, drawing a line across his right wrist with a sharp claw. "You would drink that mixture and after that I would give you the Bite that will turn you completely. You can bite me back if you want, but it's not necessary. Once the Bite takes, you're a wolf like me."

Drinking Sasuke's blood from a paw print? Naruto couldn't help but grimace at that thought. "That doesn't sound … very appetising," he remarked carefully, not wanting to offend the other man, but honestly it was a rather disgusting idea to drink someone else's blood.

Sasuke didn't appear to be offended, for he chuckled with mirth; his eyes shining. "I suppose from a human standpoint, it's not an appetising way, no, but it is what it is. However, as I said before: if you don't want to turn into a wolf, I won't force you. The option is there to take it should you want it to, though."

At this point in time Naruto honestly thought he would never choose to be a wolf, because it sounded all rather disgusting and painful. But perhaps he would change his mind in the future if he and Sasuke became closer? Especially if turning into a wolf would grant him the same extraordinary life expectancy that Sasuke apparently had.

"And what about babies then?" he persisted, leaning forwards slightly, resting his weight on his hands. "How would I be able to give you babies if I don't have the parts for it?"

Sasuke smiled, his eyes glittering this time. "That would require another type of Bite. We call it the Mating Bite. Bites are all about intent and if I give you the Mating Bite, your body will adjust itself in order to make you capable of birthing cubs."

Blond eyebrows furrowed together. "So it's kind of like magic then?" he concluded tentatively.

One Bite to turn someone into a wolf and another Bite to grant the ability to bear children, hm? That sounded quite complicated and peculiar. A part of him rebelled against it, not wanting to believe it, but he was living with someone who could literally turn into a wolf at will and had witnessed Fae dancing under the full moon – Bites being able to change someone's physics didn't sound that farfetched anymore.

Sasuke inclined his head. "If you want to call it like that, then yes, it's a form of magic."

Huh. Well, that did finally explain where the cubs would come from then. He sneaked a glance towards his stomach, wondering how it would feel like to carry a child. Back in the village the women who were expecting all looked so happy all the time. If he agreed to become Sasuke's mate and have his children, would he feel so happy too then?

He would never have to feel alone anymore, that was for sure …

"Where the sudden interest?" Sasuke murmured, looking at him with half-lidded eyes.

Naruto shrugged and looked down at the ground, fiddling with some grass strands. "What you said back then just got me thinking."

"Thinking in a good or a bad way?" Sasuke inquired and while his voice sounded neutral, there was hope lurking in the depths of his dark eyes.

_It's strange_ , Naruto thought distantly, _how I seem to have a lot of power here even though he's a wolf._

Sasuke might tease him often about him still being so innocent and naïve, but he was under no illusions. Given the large gap in physical power between them, Sasuke could easily overpower him whenever he wanted to and force Naruto to do whatever he desired. There was no way that Naruto could ever fight back, even though he had been eating a lot better here than he had in all his years in the village.

If Sasuke wanted to take him, he would and there was nothing Naruto would be able to do to stop him. Some of the villagers might even argue it was Sasuke's right, considering Naruto was his sacrifice.

But Sasuke didn't. Even after confessing to Naruto there at that riverbank, making it clear that he desired him, there had been no further attempts from the wolf. He didn't push or prod and while he had become a tad more freely with touching Naruto, the touches never strayed to private areas and never lingered so long that it could become uncomfortable.

In fact Naruto found he liked being touched by Sasuke, whether that was with human hands or thick fur brushing against his skin. Back in the village being touched by other people had been a very rare thing. Kakashi had never been the physical type, even though he made up for that in other ways and while Tsunade hadn't been shy about hugging him whenever he visited her, Naruto had always strongly felt that obvious lack of affection that most children grew up with.

There was only so much Tsunade's hugs and Kakashi's companionship could do after being forced to grow up without any sort of parental affection and with most of the villagers preferring to ignore him.

It was why he found himself soaking up Sasuke's attention and freely offered affection now, wary as he had been about it at the beginning.

Sasuke could do so many bad things to him and no one would be able to stop him, Naruto completely powerless to hold him off. Yet all he did was offer his companionship and freely bestow affectionate touches without them ever crossing a line.

He might be considered a Beast, but he had shown Naruto more respect and care in these past few months than the majority of the villagers had in all those seventeen years he'd lived with them.

"In a good way," he admitted and was treated to the sight of a beautiful smile spreading out across Sasuke's face, making him glow from within.

The almost hauntingly beautiful sight had Naruto's breath hitching and he looked away, worrying his cheeks might be permanently stained red.

He might not be completely there yet, but with just a bit more time …

* * *

Sasuke was dozing next to him, his large head cradled on Naruto's thighs, blocking him from getting up when Naruto was struck by how much trust the wolf shifter was displaying right now. Even though he was the most dangerous predator lurking around these woods, he remained vigilant the entire time, ready to strike the moment something was amiss.

But here he was: sleeping on top of Naruto's legs, putting himself in a very vulnerable position without even a second thought.

Nobody had ever trusted him like that. Even Kakashi and Tsunade had been more prone still to consider him a child in need of protection even as he grew older and showed he didn't need to be babied.

If Naruto wanted to, he could easily harm Sasuke now that the man had left himself in a very vulnerable position. All it would take was one precise strike of a sharp rock and it would be over.

This huge sign of trust had a lump forming in Naruto's throat and he slowly reached out to stroke the pitch black fur lightly. Sasuke was so patient with him, kept treating him like he was something precious to treasure, even when he had no way of knowing Naruto would ever return his feelings. He gave him all the space and the time he needed, never putting any pressure on him or reminding him that he had a decision to make. For all that Sasuke knew, he might be waiting for years for Naruto to make up his mind and something told the blond boy that the wolf would be more than willing to wait that long.

Sasuke could have everyone he wanted, all the girls and even several boys would jump on the chance to become his mate, and somehow he had chosen Naruto.

The boy the town had been more than happy to offer up as a sacrifice, the lonely orphan only two people out of an entire village were willing to look after, the one they all considered to be useless and stupid even when he'd tried so hard to show he could be of use, that he was capable of learning useful skills.

Out of everyone he could have chosen, Sasuke had chosen Naruto. This amazing, caring man was all his the second he opened his mouth and said yes.

How had his life changed that much in just four months? How had he gone from the town's loser, the useless orphan everyone had been so eager to throw to the bad wolf, to someone desired by the wolf shifter himself? To a person who was cared for, who was treasured even without offering anything in return.

It made him feel so overwhelmed, yet so happy at the same time. After all these years he had finally found his place at someone's side, someone who was treating him with the love and care he had so desperately desired for years. Someone who would be all his, who wouldn't hurt him, who wouldn't betray him or throw him to the side like trash. Someone who didn't taunt him or make fun of him just because he didn't understand something immediately, someone who didn't think he was useless or unable to be loved.

Someone who made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside, who made him blush and smile, who cared for him every day even when Naruto still had been afraid of him, even when he had made an attempt to run away.

Someone who liked him because he was just him. Just Naruto.

It was strange to think that just four months ago the sight of the huge black wolf had scared him to death, had driven him to the point of fearful tears. Just four months ago he'd tried his best not to get noticed, to stay out of the wolf's way as much as possible. Only four months ago he had barely dared to talk, fearing that every word could incite the Beast to attack him.

Now he looked back at his past self and thought of him as silly, because now he couldn't imagine not waking up anymore to Sasuke lying close to him. Now it was the thought of not seeing the man again, of being separated from him that caused him the most fear and had him clinging to soft fur sometimes.

Now he couldn't envision his life anymore without the black haired wolf shifter in it.

Funny how quickly life could change in just a manner of months.

It was that realisation that had him sinking his hands into the black fur, grabbing the thick strands tightly. "Sasuke."

The wolf awoke instantly and sat up. "Something wrong?"

"No," Naruto murmured, clasping his hands around Sasuke's neck. "Just wanted to tell you that I've decided to stay. With you. If you'll still have me."

The shift was instantaneous. One second Naruto was looking at and holding a wolf, the next he was pulled onto firm thighs, having him straddle the older man whose hands immediately descended on his lower back, resting like a hot brand there.

"You mean it? You'll be mine? My mate?" Sasuke asked urgently, almost breathlessly so, dark eyes gliding all over Naruto's face as if to catch him in a lie or a cruel prank.

Butterflies fluttered like crazy in Naruto's belly at the words and he bit down on his lip, unable to keep a smile from breaking through. Clasping his hands tighter around Sasuke's neck, he nodded, still a tad shy. "Yes, I'll be your mate."

He had never been kissed before, but as Sasuke's mouth covered his eagerly, yet gently, bestowing the softest of kisses on his lips, he decided there and then that he definitely wouldn't mind kissing Sasuke again and again.

Which he did. Again and again.

Nothing had ever felt as right as them together now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: I admit I had some trouble forming the last scene. I didn't want to have it come across as rushed, which was tricky given how they first started out. I hope this doesn't come across as unrealistic or too rushed!
> 
> As I said, there will be at least one more part if not more for this story, so enjoy the ride I guess? *clears throat*
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
> 
> I hope to see you all back in the next part! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	3. Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Many apologies for taking so long with this part. I'm dealing with some issues at home and that has been putting a damper on my drive to write for this story. But today I sat down and powered through to finally give you the next part. I hope you can forgive me for the delay!
> 
> Thank you so much for all your comments and your kudos! I can't believe this story has already got more than 200 kudos! :O
> 
> Warnings: Some time skips; fluff; smidgen of angst (I love my angst, sorry not sorry); mature content; rimming; knotting. I'm not entirely sure about the last scene to be honest, so I hope it isn't too rushed or out of character!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like this part!

**Part 3**

The nest was no longer Naruto's. Instead it had become his and Sasuke's.

The night following the afternoon in which Naruto had agreed to become his mate, the blond watched Sasuke meander around in the cave, placing another log in the fire so that the flames wouldn't die out. The height of the summer it might be, but the warmth didn't reach that far into the cave here and at the very least Naruto needed a fire going on throughout the entire night so that he wouldn't be too cold.

As he watched Sasuke, it occurred to him that in all those months that he'd been here, the wolf shifter had always slept on the other side of the cave, leaving the nest to Naruto. It made him feel awkward all of a sudden to realise that Sasuke had probably been sleeping rather uncomfortably all this time, all so Naruto could have the nest. He would need to remedy that.

"You can sleep with me, you know," he said and blushed when Sasuke turned to look at him with one eyebrow raised. "I mean, we can share the nest. It's big enough, no?"

"It's big enough," Sasuke agreed, padding closer silently. "But are you comfortable with sharing? I don't mind sleeping elsewhere."

Naruto shook his head and shuffled backwards, patting the space in front of him. "No, that wouldn't be right. I – I don't mind sharing."

Black eyes narrowed slightly, studying him. Whatever he was looking for, he must have found it, because he nodded and gracefully sank down onto his knees in the nest.

"How do you want to do this?"

Naruto gazed at him stumped, not exactly having thought this far ahead. His eyes roamed across the nest, studying the mishmash of furs and crudely made pillows filled with all sorts of soft feathers. Across the span of a couple of months, Sasuke had been adding more layers to the nest to the point where Naruto couldn't even feel the slightest hint of the cold cave floor anymore.

The large blanket rested at his feet, though he supposed he wouldn't have any need for it for a while at least if Sasuke went to sleep next to him. He'd discovered several weeks ago that no matter the temperature outside, Sasuke's body temperature tended to run hotter than Naruto's, so with the fire merrily crackling in the makeshift fireplace and Sasuke next to him, he wouldn't have a need for the blanket until winter arrived probably.

"Erm, you next to me?" Naruto suggested awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck. "I don't know if I'm a kicker, though, so sorry in advance?"

"You're not a kicker," Sasuke replied calmly. "You barely even move."

A part of Naruto thought he should consider it creepy or at the very least odd that Sasuke knew that, but he'd known from the start that Sasuke occasionally checked up on him during the night.

"Well then, that's good?" Naruto blinked, unsure how to proceed now.

A snort escaped the wolf shifter and Naruto squeaked when he was suddenly pushed down flat on his back. After a bit of manhandling – where Naruto got the impression that he was treated as some sort of doll – he ended up with his back pressed against Sasuke's stomach and the man's arm wrapped firmly around his waist without being too restrictive.

A shiver danced across his spine when warm breath caressed the back of his neck as Sasuke murmured, "There, now we're both comfortable."

Naruto wanted to offer some sort of quip, what, he wasn't sure yet, but Sasuke's heightened body heat enveloped him like some sort of heated pillow and before he knew it, his eyelids grew heavy and he fell into a deep slumber.

* * *

The weeks following were spent getting to know each other even better and kissing. Lots and lots of kissing.

Naruto had never considered before whether he would like kissing someone; being considered like some sort of black sheep back in the village hadn't put him in a position where he could think about kissing someone.

He found he did like kissing Sasuke, though. A lot. There was something about how Sasuke tasted, how firm yet soft his lips felt against his that made Naruto want _more_. More kisses, more touches, more heat. Sometimes it felt like he would never get his fill, like he would never feel like he had kissed the other man enough.

It wasn't a bad feeling to have.

It _was_ strange to consider at times how he had gone from an undesired orphan to someone adored by one of the kindest people he had ever met. Sometimes at night he laid next to Sasuke, staring up at the uneven ceiling in the darkness and wondered whether everything wasn't just one long dream. He would pinch himself then and the sharp sting would remind him each and every time that he wasn't dreaming, that Sasuke really wanted him.

He would feel Sasuke's warm arm laying across his body like a brand or a comfortable shackle and tell himself that this was real, that what he had with Sasuke wasn't a dream or a fantasy or a lie.

As the days passed into weeks, however, Naruto started worrying about something else; something which kept lingering in the back of his mind even when his head turned foggy with desire whenever Sasuke kissed him.

"What's on your mind?"

The question had him looking down at the dark haired man, startled. It was probably somewhere August and they had exchanged the cave for a nearby river, seeking to cool themselves down in the water. Naruto sat on the riverbank, bare chested and his trousers rolled up to just above his knees with his legs resting in the water. Sasuke had made himself home between his legs, having chosen to go into the river completely.

"You look like you're worrying about something," Sasuke added, his forehead creased with a light frown.

Sunlight dabbled between the leaves of the trees, highlighting the bluish sheen of his hair. The black strands were plastered down now, thanks to a dive in the water, and Naruto reached out to push the hair back before allowing his hands to linger on strong, broad shoulders.

"Just …" Naruto paused, trying to find a way to voice his concerns without sounding like a stupid child.

Even though he would turn eighteen next year, at times he felt like Sasuke was a lot more grown up, wiser than him, especially when the other man pulled away whenever their kisses turned too intense and he had to calm down before he lost control. The first couple of times their kisses had turned from soft and innocent to deep and intense, Naruto had been confused and then hurt whenever Sasuke had abruptly pulled away, leaving him feeling bereft.

It had made him uncertain, worrying he was so bad at kissing that Sasuke had to actually leave. Then Sasuke had confessed that he needed to leave before he lost control.

" _Lose control? As in you worry you're going to bite me?" Naruto asked, completely confused now._

 _Sasuke's laugh sounded a bit strangled, even as he gripped Naruto's hands and held them tightly. "No, well, yes in a way," he allowed and licked his lips, distracting the blond momentarily. "I do want to bite you, but in a good way. I want to touch you_ _**everywhere** _ _," his voice lowered, became more intense and Naruto's cheeks heated up, "and kiss you everywhere, but I also know you're not ready for that yet."_

" _Who says I'm not ready yet?" Naruto said affronted, scowling at him. "You don't know how I feel!"_

" _That's true," Sasuke conceded and then, so quickly Naruto didn't even see it coming, the other man pushed him down swiftly, rolling between his legs._

_A shock went through Naruto, his stomach muscles tensing, when fingers dipped underneath the waistband of his trousers and before he thought twice about it, he slapped Sasuke's hand away. The 'smack' rang loudly through the cave and he froze, his heart going into overdrive it felt like, as he stared up at Sasuke, only now realising what he'd just done._

" _I'm so-"_

" _It's true that I don't know how you feel, but I can read body language. You also keep forgetting that I'm attuned to your smell," Sasuke said calmly, not looking offended or angry in the slightest. He sat up, still between Naruto's legs, but didn't touch him. "I can sense when you grow uncomfortable probably before you even register it._ That's _why I leave sometimes. Because while I want more, I also don't want to hurt you and when I leave, it's because my control is on the verge of snapping."_

_He slowly reached down, giving Naruto the time to see where his hand was going, and brushed feather light fingers against Naruto's cheek. "Don't ever think it's because I don't want you," he murmured, his eyes glowing in the flames of the fireplace. "It's because I want you too much that I need to leave."_

Naruto had felt embarrassed after that conversation, had even felt somewhat guilty that Sasuke was needing to restrain himself even though the other man had reassured him he didn't mind waiting for him to be ready.

Sometimes, though, it felt like all Sasuke did was waiting for him. Waiting for Naruto to return his feelings, waiting for him to be ready to do more than just kissing and some light petting …

How could he be a good mate for Sasuke when all he did was make him wait?

"Tell me what's wrong," Sasuke demanded now, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "You smell like you're about to panic, what's wrong?"

"Just …" Naruto hesitated again, but the warning look he received had him giving in finally. "I was wondering … Are you planning on staying here forever or are you going to return to where your family lives?"

He knew Sasuke still had his parents and one older brother left. According to him, they lived together with several other branches of his family near a place in the mountains; far enough from humans that they could shift and live without ever being bothered by someone.

Naruto didn't know how far the mountains were, but he thought it must be pretty far away considering that Kakashi had never mentioned having seen the mountains, even though the older man had travelled around a lot.

Sasuke cocked his head to the left. "Eventually I'm planning to take you with me and return, yes. But not yet."

"Why not?"

"It's a long journey," Sasuke explained, his thumbs rubbing circles into Naruto's knees. "Even if we left now we still would be travelling once winter hits and the terrains we have to cross aren't safe during that time. At the earliest we can leave once spring nearly arrives. That would have us arriving there once autumn hits the country."

"Oh." Naruto considered that, tried to imagine how long the journey must be if they would still be travelling during the winter. He had a hard time imagining it.

Hearing how long the journey would be made him worry even more about what had been on his mind for a while now. "Do you think your parents – will they accept me? And your brother? You said you have an older brother, what if he doesn't approve? If it's that long of a journey, they don't know yet that you found someone, right? So what if - "

"Breathe," Sasuke said gently, but firmly, and Naruto gasped for breath, flushing instantly.

He looked down at the water, his cheeks so warm they felt like he had held his face above a fire. "Sorry," he said lowly.

"You've got nothing to worry about, all right?" Sasuke said and started rubbing his hands up and down across Naruto's legs, occasionally squeezing his calves gently. "My family is going to accept you, I have no doubt about that."

"But what if they don't?" Naruto protested, lifting his head. "What if they take one look at me and decide that I'm not good enough for you?"

A black eyebrow rose up. "They're going to take one look at you and decide that I made a good choice. All they care about is me being happy."

"But what if they don't like me?" the blond insisted, worry making his stomach flip upside down uncomfortably. "You don't know for sure that they will - "

"I know my parents," Sasuke interrupted him. "I know my brother. I _know_ they will accept you. There's no need to worry about that, trust me. When they meet you, all you have to worry about is that my mother will try to smother you with hugs." The corners of his mouth twitched with the beginning of a smile and unwillingly Naruto smiled.

Perhaps it was silly to worry about something that wouldn't happen any time soon yet. Sasuke was right: he knew his family the best and if he was certain that they would accept Naruto … There wouldn't be much sense in continuing to worry about it this entire time. It sounded like they would still be here for several months at least.

But wait – if the journey was that long, did that mean that …

"Does that mean we won't ever come back here once we leave?" That realisation hit Naruto like a slap in the face and his eyes widened. If they never came back, that would mean he would never see Tsunade and Kakashi again!

Not that he had seen them ever since he had been dumped in front of the cave, but he was still comforted by the knowledge that they weren't that far away. There was still a chance he might come across them when he went walking in the woods, but once they left for the mountains …

_He would never see them again._

"No, once we leave, we won't come back," Sasuke answered, tilting his head back somewhat. He studied Naruto carefully; his gaze gliding across his face. "Coming back will not only take up a lot of time, but could pose a risk to us as well."

"Right." Naruto felt so dumb right now. Of course they couldn't come back. The journey would take months; naturally they couldn't travel every year back and forth. "So … once we leave – that's it."

"That's it," Sasuke confirmed. "Were you expecting anything else?"

The blond boy shrugged awkwardly and looked away. "I don't know … I guess I just thought that maybe one day I could get to see Tsunade and Kakashi again. But I understand why that isn't possible."

It just hurt to realise that he would never see them again. The chances of encountering them in the forest were slim, he could admit that, and once they left for the mountains …

He startled slightly when wet fingers touched his face and he willingly turned his head when Sasuke put light pressure behind his touch.

Black eyes regarded him softly before Sasuke rose up, bracing himself on the ground, and captured Naruto's mouth in a soft kiss. Ignoring the hot sting of tears behind his eyeballs, Naruto surrendered to the kiss, allowing the other man to deepen it gradually until he could only think of Sasuke. Sasuke's lips, Sasuke's touch, Sasuke's scent …

A squeak of surprise escaped him when the wolf pulled him into the water with him; the heat of his palms almost burning through the trousers Naruto still wore. A fleeting thought passed his mind about how he should probably protest, point out he didn't have a spare to change into whilst he waited for this pair to dry, but it was hard to be annoyed when sharp teeth nipped at his lower lip and hands danced around him to rest on his lower back.

They felt hot against his naked skin, even in the cool water, and he shuddered, pressing himself closer against Sasuke, though that did little to alleviate the sensation of _too much, too hot, too intense …_

He keened when Sasuke started rocking his hips against his and the wolf shifter growled, ripping his mouth away to attack Naruto's neck instead. Blue eyes rolled back and nails dug into pale shoulders when lips started sucking a bruise right underneath the hollow of his right ear. All the while Sasuke kept rocking his hips against his, kept touching him, kept kissing him, and all Naruto could do was cling to him and kiss back, as wave after wave of pleasure crashed into him.

White flashed across his vision and he gasped, lurching forwards when the pleasure reached its crescent, making him feel like his skin was too tight, too small to contain everything. Blood rushed loudly in his ears and he was only vaguely aware of the high whimpers escaping him as he clung to Sasuke, riding out this gigantic wave of pleasure that he'd never experienced before.

When the pleasure finally petered out, he slumped back, feeling bone tired all of a sudden. His limbs were too heavy and exhaustion crept up on him as he laid there against the riverbank, panting. He didn't even stir when Sasuke pulled off his trousers, throwing them further onto the riverbank. They landed there with a wet smack; it would probably take a few hours for them to dry.

He didn't care. He couldn't care, not when Sasuke pulled him back into his arms and started crooning how beautiful he looked, what a perfect mate he was. The man's cheeks were dusted rose and his black eyes gleamed satisfied; his hands running soothingly up and down across Naruto's back, brushing over his arse softly at times.

Naruto let him and clasped his arms around the man's neck, allowing the gentle sounds of the crickets chirping and Sasuke's soft touch to lull him into sleep.

* * *

"Don't go to sleep yet," Sasuke told him a few evenings later.

Naruto looked at him bemused, pausing in front of the nest. They'd gone on a long walk through the forest today and to be quite frank, he was tired and wanted to rest. Especially his feet were aching, though he supposed that was more so his fault, considering he had refused Sasuke's offer to carry him back to the cave.

"Why not?" he questioned curiously, looking back and forth between the nest and the wolf. "It's late," he pointed out needlessly.

There was no clock he could base the hour on, but considering it was completely dark outside, he thought it was safe to assume that it had to be nearing midnight now.

"Because I want to take you somewhere still," Sasuke replied and shifted into his wolf form.

"Does it require a lot of walking?" Naruto asked dubiously, shifting his weight from one leg to the next. "Because I don't think I can handle another long walk."

That had Sasuke rolling his eyes, which was admittedly a strange sight in his wolf form. "I offered to carry you," he pointed out and Naruto waved his hand dismissively, not wanting to start that argument anew. "But no, you don't need to walk. It's faster if you're on my back."

"A bit rude," Naruto complained, but it was half-hearted at best and he only needed a toss of Sasuke's large head to be convinced to climb onto his back.

He kept his head down, gripping thick strands of fur tightly, as Sasuke trotted through the long corridor. The temperature had lowered somewhat in the past couple of days, so Sasuke's natural raised body heat didn't bother him that much.

There wasn't much he could look at once they exited the cave. It was almost as dark outside as it had been in the cave corridors, and he could only make out the outlines of the trees and the bushes. The moon was only a thin slice, barely enough to illuminate everything, and thus Naruto contented himself with resting his head against the back of Sasuke's, listening to the chorus of crickets chirping and the night animals awakening around them.

An owl hooted softly somewhere in the distance and at one point a bush rustled violently as whatever animal had been underneath it was startled by Sasuke's fast approach. His large paws barely made an impact on the forest floor and if Naruto didn't know better, he'd say Sasuke was capable of flying.

"Where are we going actually?" he broke the silence after a while, his curiosity burning away at his sleepiness.

Sasuke huffed amused. "You'll see. It's a surprise."

Naruto looked around him and while he still could barely discern anything in detail, he didn't think they were running in the direction of the cliff where they had watched the Fae dance before.

"Is it far?"

"Not that far when I'm running."

Which did absolutely nothing to answer Naruto's question, but he would take it. Clearly Sasuke wasn't about to divulge the surprise before they had arrived wherever they were travelling to and so Naruto just wrinkled his nose, but remained quiet.

Somehow he must have falling asleep, because when he blinked next, it was to find himself no longer surrounded by trees or even bushes, but instead he stood in front of a building.

A very familiar building, one which he had visited so many times before he could make the trip in his sleep even.

Heart beating quicker, he almost tripped over his own feet in his haste to climb off Sasuke's back. Mouth suddenly dry, he gaped at the door. "Is this …"

"You wanted a chance to see them," Sasuke murmured and before Naruto could do something, maybe thank him or hug him, he didn't know, the wolf darted forwards and scratched loudly at the door.

He kept scratching at it until a light flicked on somewhere upstairs, warm yellow flooding out of the window and then her voice drifted through the wood to them, sounding annoyed as she called out, "Yes, yes, I'm coming! I swear to the gods, Akimichi, if you've been a glutton again to the point of feeling sick, I'm going to make you regret it!"

The door swung open, showing a very irate Tsunade clad in her night robe. Her anger quickly melted away, shock replacing it swiftly when her eyes fell on Naruto. Tears springing up in brown eyes, she gasped, her hand briefly flying up to cover her mouth before she stepped forwards.

"Naruto – Naruto, is that really you?" she asked choked; the first tears escaping her.

He could only nod, the sudden lump in his throat stopping him from saying something, but he didn't have to. Before he could even blink, she'd thrown her arms around him, hugging him so desperately tight, and any other moment he would have started joking, claiming she was going to suffocate him with her large bosom, but not now.

Now all he could do was desperately cling to her, hugging her back as tightly as he could as he started crying; her own tears wetting his neck.

"You're here, you're actually here, you've come back to me," she said again and again, sounding like she didn't dare to believe it, like she feared this was all just a dream.

She pulled back abruptly, still holding onto him, and her glistening brown eyes roamed all over him, categorising all the chances. Her hands cupped his cheeks, her thumbs brushing over his cheekbones, and she smiled in wonder.

"You're actually here. You're here," she breathed out awed. "I knew it! I knew you were still alive! When I heard what those sons of bitches had done, I wanted to go out and get you but Kakashi stopped me, telling me it wouldn't be safe to bring you back. But you're here now, you're actually here!"

Covering her hands with his, he smiled weakly. "I'm sorry, baa-chan, but – I can't stay."

"Of course you can stay!" she denied instantly. "You can come live with me! Or I can pack my stuff and then we can leave this wretched place together. I'm sure there are other villages who'll take us in. I can ask - "

"No, baa-chan, I can't. I have a new place now where I belong," he interrupted her softly and looked at Sasuke, who was lingering in the shadows of the house, allowing them as much privacy as was possible.

She followed his gaze; her sharp intake of breath exceptionally loud in the silence of the night. She stiffened, her hands dropping down; one grabbed Naruto's wrist and the other went to her left side almost instinctively before she paused.

"That's the Beast," she said; her voice oddly neutral.

He licked his lips, suddenly nervous. "Ye-yeah, he is."

She studied Sasuke, her gaze gliding from his large head to his bushy tail wrapped around his form as he sat there. Sasuke gazed back calmly, not making any move nor uttering any sound.

"You brought him here?" she questioned, although from the look on her face she already knew the answer.

Sasuke silently inclined his head.

"But you're not planning on staying in the neighbourhood forever," she said wryly. She still held on to Naruto's wrist, but her other hand was resting at her side now.

"No, he's – he's planning on taking me away eventually. To meet his family," Naruto stumbled over his words, trying to explain without giving too much away.

Sasuke hadn't mentioned anything about having to keep quiet about something, but Naruto didn't want to say too much in case there were other ears listening.

"Right," she said quietly and shocked Naruto when she released his wrist, instead approaching Sasuke. She halted only a few feet away from him and rested her hands on her hips. "I do hope you realise just what sort of treasure you have now."

"Baa-chan!" Naruto protested embarrassed, feeling his cheeks warm up.

"I know," Sasuke replied undisturbed.

If she was thrown off by his gritty voice, she didn't show it. "You better take care of him well, because Beast or not, I _will_ go after you," she said darkly.

"I'd kill myself before I would let any harm befall him," Sasuke promised her solemnly.

She nodded and took a deep breath then before turning around to face Naruto again. "I don't know when you two are planning on leaving, but when you do – please pay me one last visit, okay?" she asked softly, wiping the back of her hand across her eyes. "I want a chance to say goodbye."

"I will, baa-chan," he promised her and she hugged him again; her form trembling slightly against his.

When the sound of voices drew near, they both froze. Tsunade stepped back, throwing a worried look at the street.

Pressing a kiss against his cheek, she whispered, "Go now, before you're seen."

"But – Kakashi, is he - "

She shook her head, pursing her lips together. "Kakashi's left on a mission; I don't know when he'll be back. I can tell him to go to the forest when he's returned."

"That'll be fine," Sasuke grumbled, standing up. "I'll hear him."

"Time to go. Take care of yourself, brat," she whispered and after another kiss, he hastily climbed on top of Sasuke's back.

The last thing he saw before they disappeared around the corner was Tsunade gazing at them before retreating into her home.

* * *

"Thank you. For letting me see her," Naruto mumbled later when they were lying in the nest.

Slender fingers brushed across his cheek and the side of his neck. "Of course. I'm sorry I didn't think of this sooner." He sounded a bit chagrined, annoyed with himself.

The blond shrugged and burrowed himself deeper into his mate's embrace. "It doesn't matter. You let me see her tonight. I'm grateful for that."

"I'm sorry you couldn't see the other one tonight," Sasuke said quietly, nuzzling Naruto's temple.

Naruto shrugged. "Not your fault," he muttered. "Kakashi's often gone on missions. I'm already happy I got to see baa-chan again."

It was quiet for a moment before Sasuke remarked, "You can see her again, you know."

"What?" Naruto blinked, pulling back to look at the other man, even though he couldn't see much in the darkness, even with the fire blazing in the hearth.

"Before we leave for the mountains, you can visit her again," Sasuke clarified; his fingers running through Naruto's hair. "You can say goodbye to her then."

Naruto smiled; something in him settling even with the thought that eventually he wouldn't see Tsunade again. "Thank you."

Even if he could only see her one more time – it would be enough.

Because that was more than he ever thought he would get once he had landed here.

* * *

As time went on, the cave started to look more and more like a mini home. The bear rug in front of the fireplace remained and the nest increased in size with more layers of fur added to it.

One day after he'd been gone for several hours, Sasuke returned with a kettle, two mugs and a collection of tea leaves in a cotton bag. The sight of it amused Naruto; the mental image of a large, intimidating wolf stealing a tea kettle and some mugs sending him into a laughing fit that lasted for several minutes.

That made Sasuke grumble and snap his teeth at him lazily, before leaving the boy to set up the stuff on the crudely crafted table.

For all the laughing he had done, though, he was really happy with the tea leaves. He had nothing against water, but being able to prepare tea now and taste something else than just water had him feeling giddy for days.

He knew they wouldn't remain here indefinitely, but there was still something to be said about making this cave more like an actual home. During the first few months of his stay here, he'd found himself longing to be back at his shack. Depilated as it had been, it had been his home for years and he'd missed it something fiercely.

Now he sometimes thought about his shack still, but there was no longer an urgent sense of longing that accompanied those thoughts. Now he only felt some nostalgia at most. The shack had been his first home, but the cave had become his second one in just a matter of months.

That should scare him perhaps, how quickly he'd started to consider this place as his home, but it didn't. Because the cave had Sasuke and Sasuke made this a home. Sasuke made him feel like he belonged here, at his side, and for someone like Naruto, who'd been an outcast for years, only accepted by two people in the entire village, that sentiment was _everything_ to him.

For years he had secretly dreamt of the day that he would finally find a place where he belonged, where he wouldn't be mocked and taunted or considered useless. Who knew that place would turn out to be a cave with a giant wolf?

Certainly not him.

* * *

It had been brewing inside of him for a while now, this _need_ that he couldn't really quell.

It simmered in the pit of his belly whenever he and Sasuke kissed, blazed when hands dipped between thighs and slid upwards before pleasure would erupt.

It had him feeling irrationally disappointed when Sasuke would peel away from him, stalking away before Naruto could return the favour and make Sasuke see the same stars he did.

At first he didn't understand it. Didn't get why he felt so disappointed whenever the wolf turned away from him, panting and growling heavily. Didn't comprehend why the sight of Sasuke barely restraining himself had him longing for more even when the other man had just brought him to the heights of pleasure.

Then one afternoon in early autumn he finally understood.

* * *

The clouds had broken somewhere in the early morning and since then the downpour had barely stopped. The heavy rain had forced the two of them to remain in the cave; Sasuke only having left once to catch lunch and dinner for them.

Naruto watched how Sasuke stood in front of the fire, stretching his muscles. Completely naked as usual, even after so many months of gazing upon his bared body, he was still a magnificent sight to behold and Naruto's mouth dried up slightly at the same time something else stirred.

Sasuke turned towards him, lifting one eyebrow. "What are you thinking about?" he asked, amused; a faint smile playing across his lips.

"You," Naruto answered honestly, boldly.

His daring response took Sasuke aback a bit before he smirked. "Oho, really now?" he murmured, his eyes gleaming. "Anything in specific?"

Naruto stepped out of the nest, not even registering the cold of the cave floor against his feet as he walked over to the older man. He halted right in front of him.

"I was thinking that I don't want you to hold back anymore," he murmured and in a fit of bravery, feeling more daring than ever before, he grasped Sasuke's hand and brought it between his legs, pressing it there. A soft moan escaped him when Sasuke's hand pushed more intimately against him; a spark of pleasure zipping straight down his back.

Black eyes flashed red and a low snarl rebounded between them. "Do you even know what you're asking me now, Naruto?" Sasuke asked, voice rough and deep; the wolf side scratching at the surface, begging to be let through.

"Yes," Naruto breathed out, still pulling out of that well of bravery he'd found in himself. "I'm asking you to give me everything, to stop holding back. I don't want you holding back anymore."

"I'm giving you one more chance," Sasuke said, his voice now reaching a guttural level; deeper than Naruto had ever heard it being before. "After – I won't be able to hold back at all. Last chance to back out, Naruto."

Naruto didn't answer. Instead he held black eyes, a ring of redness surrounding the pupils, and pulled off his shirt before pushing down his trousers. He stepped out of them and kicked them to the side.

Now he was just as naked as Sasuke was and he jutted out his chin. "Is this a good enough an-hmph!"

A pair of hungry lips instantly caught his own, devouring him to the point where he thought he would never be able to breathe again. He gasped when Sasuke abruptly broke the kiss, laughing breathlessly when the wolf shifter growled and swept him off his feet, striding quickly over to the nest.

He was laid down in the middle of it and before he could even move – not that he wanted to, not now, not ever – Sasuke rolled on top of him, pushing open his legs and slotting their hips together.

"I'm going to make you feel so good," Sasuke promised; his hands dancing over Naruto's chest, rubbing over his nipples, making the younger man stifle a whine.

For some reason his chest was ridiculously sensitive, a fact which Sasuke had discovered early on and which never failed to make him delighted when he could drive Naruto crazy just by touching or sucking on them.

"I'm going to take care of you, my love, you're going to feel amazing," Sasuke breathed out, pressing a line of kisses from Naruto's chin down to his neck. He lingered there, sucking yet another bruise, before kissing the hollow between his collarbones and dipping down to twirl his tongue around Naruto's left nipple.

The sensation of a hot, wet tongue sliding around the little nub had Naruto hissed and his hands grasped and touched Sasuke's chest and back in intervals as he arched his own back, pushing into that devious mouth.

Even with Sasuke's tongue and fingers masterfully distracting him, there was still a bit of fear nagging at him and he breathed out shakily, squeezing Sasuke's arms. "Is it – will it hurt?" He hated how small his voice sounded right now and bit down on his lip.

When Sasuke looked at him, his eyes softened for just a fraction and he reached out to pull Naruto's lip free. "Maybe a bit," he answered honestly. "But I'm going to do my best to keep it as painless as possible for you. I only want you to feel pleasure."

"Okay." A shudder rippled through him when Sasuke kissed him, nipping gently at his bottom lip. "I trust you," he whispered when their lips parted with a wet sound.

The beautiful smile Sasuke gave him sent a bone deep shudder running through him. "Unfair how good you look," he protested weakly, wrapping his legs around the wolf's hips.

"You should see yourself," Sasuke murmured and when he kissed him next, it was so deep and filthy, filled with dark promises of the pleasure lying ahead, that it had Naruto whining, rolling his hips urgently against Sasuke's.

He only succeeded in sending another jolt of pleasure through his system as their cocks rubbed against each other, and then he knew nothing else but Sasuke's touch.

* * *

It felt like he was drowning.

Drowning in the deep kisses Sasuke bestowed on him, in the tongue curling around his own, Sasuke's taste in his mouth.

Sinking deeper and deeper in those firm touches, teasing caresses, and fleeting brushes on places where Naruto begged to be touched more. He might actually have begged; he didn't know. He did know that his reactions had Sasuke smirking, had the man teasing him, edging him along as he danced on that fine line of the pleasure nearly becoming too much.

It wasn't too much yet. Not yet.

"Please, I want more, I need more, Sasuke, please," he gasped; every inhibition he might have had still thrown straight out of the window with his senses drowning in pleasure, every cell in his body singing with it.

He needed _more_ , wanted _more_ , and Sasuke was the only one who could give him that, the only one who could quench this undying thirst in him, this _hunger_ for more.

"I've got you," Sasuke promised roughly; his eyes a permanent red glow to them now. He was hovering above the squirming blond, looking remarkably well like the predator he was, but he didn't scare Naruto.

Far from it. Instead of being scared, the predatory gleam in those red eyes only sent heat racing through his veins and he mouthed at Sasuke's neck, tasting the salt of his sweat and his very essence underneath it.

Suddenly Sasuke sat up and Naruto whined at the loss. He didn't have the time to feel truly bereft, however, because before he realised it, he was suddenly upside down, his head on the nest and his legs in the air.

Wide-eyed he stared up at Sasuke, confusion momentarily gaining the upper hand. "Sasuke, what – OH GOD!" He clasped his hands across his mouth and squeezed his eyes shut, embarrassment and arousal battling with each other, when he suddenly felt Sasuke's tongue in a place where he had never expected to feel it before.

"Wh-what are you – you – you ca-can't - " he stuttered, but couldn't finish actually finish his protest, his mind swimming as he tried to figure out how to react.

A part of him wanted to shove Sasuke away, because god, why would anyone want to stick their tongue _there_?! He reached out with his left hand, thinking he should push Sasuke away, but then the tongue delved deeper, pushing past the ring of muscles at the same time a finger slipped inside, and Naruto _screamed_.

He found himself pushing into Sasuke's mouth instead of away, and he should feel ashamed about that, but he didn't. All he could feel was overwhelming pleasure, every muscle in his body high strung as he tried to deal with the different sensations Sasuke was pulling out of him.

He was babbling something, maybe along the lines of _more, more, oh god, Sasuke, please!_ , but he couldn't be sure of that; the connection between his brain and his mouth shot to hell as Sasuke used his tongue in all sorts of wicked ways while his two fingers stretched him further open, their tips occasionally brushing against something really sensitive inside of Naruto, something which had his synapses firing, pleasure like he'd never experienced before coursing through him and setting him alight from within.

Then Sasuke was suddenly gone and Naruto actually _sobbed_ , feeling strangely bereft and empty without Sasuke's tongue and his fingers.

"Don't worry, sweetheart," Sasuke cooed, lowering his legs again before hooking them around his waist. "I'm going to make you feel so good. Just relax for me, okay?"

Naruto nodded, not even registering what was being said to him, only knowing that he needed more, that he needed Sasuke to fill him, complete him finally.

Sasuke cupped the back of his head, his mouth hovering above Naruto's, swallowing his gasp when he pushed forwards, breaching him with something much larger than his fingers or tongue had been. Naruto felt like he was being stretched to his limit even with all the preparation Sasuke had given him, and a small whine escaped him as he squirmed against Sasuke, trying to figure out whether the slight burn he felt was the good kind or not.

It felt like ages before Sasuke finally stilled, a low groan slipping from between his kiss bruised lips. "You're doing so well," he praised Naruto; his free hand caressing over the blond's thigh. "Look at how good you're taking me; you feel so good inside," he groaned; his fingers tightening around sweaty strands of blond hair.

The words of praise had Naruto flushing, feeling shy but proud, and he tentatively started rocking his hips, gasping when that only seemed to push Sasuke even further inside of him.

"That's it," Sasuke whispered, pressing kisses all over his face, mouthing at his jaw. "Such a good mate, so good for me, taking everything I give you. Think you can take more for me? You ready for me to move, sweetheart?"

Naruto whined, nodded, and sought out Sasuke's mouth when the man started moving in earnest now, pulling back slowly before swiftly pushing back inside, filling up Naruto completely every time. It only took him a couple of thrusts before the head of his cock struck against that particular place deep inside Naruto again, making him moan and bite down on Sasuke's lip.

That made the man growl; the vibrations rippling through Naruto, and the thrusts turned more forceful, deeper, forcing Naruto to take everything Sasuke gave him.

Naruto had no problem taking it. He opened his legs wider, and turned his head to the side, baring his neck, knowing how the sight of him in this position tended to drive the wolf wild. It wasn't any different now. Sasuke snarled before bending down to bite down on Naruto's neck; there was only the slightest hint of sharp teeth, not even enough to break the skin, but it was enough to make Naruto shiver and his muscles squeezed down around Sasuke's prick, making the man groan in approval.

Even amidst the overwhelming pleasure, Naruto wasn't so far out of it – yet – that he couldn't feel something strange after a while. It felt like Sasuke was actually growing bigger, the man seemingly needing to put more effort behind his thrusts to pull out, and it got Naruto confused. He was pretty sure Sasuke had been completely hard before he filled him up, so how …

"Are you growing?" he asked breathlessly, blinking up at Sasuke.

There was not even a hint of black left in those eyes, all the colour drained away by glowing blood red. " _Yes_ ," Sasuke hissed, his fangs growing; his hands grasping Naruto's waist tightly. "It's – my kind, we have a knot. Meant to tie our mates to us. So we can fill them up, breed them full with cubs."

Those words sent his heart racing, but Sasuke continued, "Not now, though. Not going to breed you yet, because you haven't got the Bite yet, but soon. Say the word and I pull out now. Otherwise," a shudder rippled through him, his fangs definitely visible now, "I'm going to knot you and we'll be – we'll be tied together for a while."

Even though he couldn't have babies yet, even though this was his first time and perhaps he shouldn't go this far yet, Naruto wanted _everything_ Sasuke could give him. No longer holding back between them, _he wanted it all_.

"I want your knot, please," he groaned, his hands grappling at Sasuke's back, nails digging into the pale skin when the other man positively _snarled_.

If Naruto had thought Sasuke's dick had stretched him out before, it was nothing compared to the man's knot. No longer needing to hold back, Sasuke's knot rapidly grew until it became harder to pull out.

Naruto only had one second to consider whether he should have refused before something big and bulbous forced itself past his stretched entrance, and he screamed, _pain pleasure pain pleasure_ exploding inside of him. His whole body shook and he arched his back, gasping for air as Sasuke throbbed inside of him. His essence coated both their stomachs and he whimpered, fearing he was going mad with all the pleasure overloading his senses.

"You're taking my knot so good, look at you," Sasuke was murmuring, praising him almost feverishly as his hands ran up and down Naruto's sides, over his belly, across his chest, down to his hips … "So good, such a good mate, taking my knot perfectly. You're perfect, you're amazing, I'm never going to let you go. _You're mine._ "

Maybe those words of pure possession should have scared him, but all Naruto could think of as he wrapped his arms around Sasuke's back, allowing the man to turn them around so he rested on top of him now, was,

_I'm yours and you're mine._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: So yes *clears throat* That happened. Like I said, not entirely sure about the last scene, so I hope I didn't screw up too badly!
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
> 
> I hope to see you all back for the next part! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	4. Part 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Many apologies for keeping so long with this part. Another story was taking me longer to finish and this week I have been quite tired for reasons I still don't know. But I finally powered through tonight and kept working on it so I could finally finish it (so going to regret this in the morning). Again apologies for taking so long.
> 
> Thank you for all the comments and the kudos! I'm seriously blown away by the fact that this story has already more than 300 kudos, holy shit!
> 
> Warnings: Time skips; fluff; mature content; MPreg (oh yes, we're finally going there); talkative Sasuke; vague hints of abuse; mention of blood
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like this part!

**Part 4**

He must have dozed off for a bit, because when he opened his eyes next, he was surprised to find that they were at a brook closest to the cave. He was seated on Sasuke's lap, their legs in the chilly water, and the wolf was cleaning him with the water, running his hand across Naruto's chest and his back before sliding them over his legs.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep," was the first thing that left his mouth and he blinked, his cheeks heating up a bit when Sasuke chuckled lowly.

"I don't mind; at least you didn't fall asleep during it," he smirked. "Now that would have made me question my skills if that had happened."

"There's nothing wrong with your skills," Naruto murmured, ignoring the way his cheeks warmed up even more with that admission.

That earnt him a kiss in his neck and he shivered, though not from the cold because Sasuke's raised body heat ensured that he felt nothing of the slight chilly September air.

"How are you feeling?" Sasuke questioned after some silence had passed between them. He'd stopped cleaning Naruto; his warm hand resting on Naruto's right thigh.

Naruto shifted a bit, stilling when the ache in his lower back worsened for a moment. It wasn't anything awful, not a debilitating pain, but it was definitely there as a reminder of what they had done together.

"A slight ache, but nothing bad," he admitted. He thought about lying about the discomfort, but Sasuke always knew when he was lying and he was feeling too comfortable to start an argument.

"Not anything too bad?" Sasuke gazed at him intently, ready to catch even the faintest whiff of a lie.

"No, nothing too bad," Naruto smiled and felt bold enough to lean forward and catch Sasuke's mouth in a kiss. "I feel good," he admitted; wrapping his fingers around soft strands of black hair.

More than good, even; he felt like he was floating, his limbs still heavy with pleasure even though it must have been at least more than an hour ago since they had consummated their love.

That thought sent a shudder through him and he pressed himself even closer against Sasuke; his entire body running hot underneath those burning eyes.

"Yeah? That's good to hear," Sasuke murmured, nuzzling the hollow beneath Naruto's right ear.

"How come you washed me actually? I thought you - " Naruto cut himself off, too embarrassed to continue.

"You thought I what?" Sasuke prompted him, pulling back a bit to look at him curiously.

"That you would like it more if I smelt like you," the blond admitted embarrassedly.

He'd been reading about wolves before Danzo had decided to literally thrown him in front of one, and the book had said that they liked to mark their territory – whether objects, nature or living beings – so Naruto had kind of expected Sasuke to behave similar, given his wolf side.

"Someone is well informed," Sasuke rumbled, sending more blood rushing into Naruto's cheeks. His eyes glowed red when he wrapped his hand around Naruto's neck and his mouth hovered close to his when he murmured, "I do like it very much when you smell like me, that's true. Some water won't get my scent off you or your scent off me anytime soon, I promise. I figured you'd be a bit more comfortable if you weren't completely sticky." He smirked and captured Naruto's mouth in a deep kiss before the blond boy could come up with a form of retort.

Naruto was more than fine with that, though.

* * *

If Naruto had thought he had grown addictive to Sasuke's kisses and his touch, it was nothing compared to now when he knew how it felt to have Sasuke in him. It still ached at the beginning when Sasuke first slid inside him, but with every time they did it, it became easier and easier to ignore the slight pain, especially when his senses were positively drowning in pleasure.

With Sasuke no longer forced to hold himself back, he became a lot freer with his touches, especially the not so innocent ones, and Naruto learnt that there were a lot of things one could do with a tongue and fingers. He also learnt that a human body could be very flexible if one wanted to be, but that always left him with burning cheeks and a belly which squirmed funnily so he tried not to think about that too much for fear he would walk around with a permanent red face.

It was quite astonishing, really, how much progress they had made in the months since Naruto had been dumped here. He had gone from being too fearful to even open his mouth around the Beast to being incredibly vocal to Sasuke's absolute delight. Sometimes he became aware of how loud he could be whenever they slept together and he would try to stifle his voice somewhat at least, a bit embarrassed by the way it would echo in the cave.

Sasuke would have none of it every time. Whenever he noticed that Naruto was trying to be more quiet, he would growl and do something like bite his neck or thrust even harder to distract the blond, admonishing him for trying to smother his voice.

Naruto would accept the scolding and stop trying to be quiet – until the next time he thought he was too loud and the game would start anew. He didn't mind, however, because Sasuke had very _interesting_ ways to make him stop stifling his voice.

* * *

"You're feeling up to going outside for a bit?" Sasuke questioned, padding into the cave.

He'd gone outside a little while ago to investigate a peculiar noise. He hadn't appeared too worried about the noise, however, so Naruto hadn't been concerned and had remained behind in the nest, dozing after the round of lovemaking they had just finished.

Upon hearing his lover's voice, he opened his eyes and stretched his entire body, wincing slightly at the dull ache in his lower back. "It's still day, right?" he asked, looking around for his clothes.

He had started wearing his clothes less and less when inside the cave, because more often than not he ended up naked anyways, so there was no point in getting dressed when those clothes would come off within a couple of hours. Sasuke definitely loved this change in routine, given how his eyes would gleam whenever Naruto walked around completely naked. The blond boy was not entirely as confident as the wolf shifter was about being naked, but Sasuke's more than approving reactions helped him feel better about himself whenever he did dare to walk around naked.

Considering it was September now, though, and he didn't have this built in heater like Sasuke had, he would need to wear his clothes if he wanted to go outside. It might not be freezing yet, but that didn't mean it was warm enough still for him to traipse about sans clothes.

"Yes, afternoon," Sasuke confirmed, still keeping his wolf form.

That piqued Naruto's interest, because lately Sasuke had accompanied him in his human form more often than in his wolf form when they walked around outside.

"Yeah, okay, where are we going?" He found his shirt and trousers underneath the rickety table for some reason and pulled them on, clenching his cheeks when he felt something warm and sticky drip down.

Sasuke's eyes were definitely glowing when he turned around to face him, but he surprisingly didn't react to what he was certainly smelling now. Whatever it was that he wanted to show him must be quite important then.

"You've got a visitor," Sasuke answered.

It took a moment before Naruto's brain analysed the comment and his eyes widened; his hands freezing as he was about to tug down his shirt. "A visitor?" he repeated dumbly. "Baa-chan?"

"See for yourself," Sasuke replied, jerking his head towards the exit of the cave. If wolves were capable of smiling, he would most likely be doing that now.

Excited, butterflies racing through his stomach, he rushed through the tunnel system; the wolf following him like a shadow. Had Tsunade decided to visit him on his own? Had Sasuke heard her wandering through the woods and had decided to guide her to the cave? That would explain why he had been gone for a while.

The sight of weak daylight glinting at the end of the tunnel had him speeding up for the last part and he practically burst out of the cave; eyes wildly roaming around the space to find her.

Immediately he realised Tsunade wasn't here. Instead –

"It's really you," Kakashi said dazedly; his dark eyes wide with disbelief. "She was – she was right. She was actually right. You're here, you're alive."

Naruto stared at the only father figure he had known, took in the haggard appearance, the silvery hair sticking out in every possible direction, the long bandage wrapped around his right arm. He was still dressed in his uniform, making him question whether the man had only just come back from whatever mission he had been sent to and the sight of him, so familiar even after months of not having seen it, had tears stinging the back of his eyes and his lower lip trembled.

"Kakas-"

Arms suddenly swung around him, drawing him in a tight hug, and he stood there in complete shock for a moment, for Kakashi had never been the affectionate type, preferring to pat heads and shoulders as opposed to embracing someone.

But here he was now, hugging Naruto desperately tight as if he was afraid this was all a dream and he needed to reassure himself it wasn't.

"You're okay, you're here," Kakashi kept repeating, rocking them back and forth as if Naruto was a mere child instead of the young adult he actually was.

He didn't care. He hugged Kakashi back just as tightly, burying his face into his shoulder, uncaring if tears escaped or not.

Of course Tsunade had promised to send Kakashi to the forest as soon as the man was back from his mission, but a small part of Naruto – a part which had started rearing its ugly head the second he had comprehended just how dangerous Kakashi's work could be – had feared that he would never get the chance to see the older man again. Because something could have gone wrong during his mission, or he could have been held up for so long that by the time he arrived here, Sasuke and he would already have left.

But he was here now, right in front of Naruto, injured but fine otherwise and that thought had him squeezing his arms around Kakashi even harder. The older man grunted but didn't let him go, exhaling brokenly.

"Thank you," he said.

The words jarred Naruto for a couple of seconds, him not understanding why Kakashi would be thanking him, until he realised he wasn't talking to _him_ – but to Sasuke.

Sasuke, who was still in his huge wolf form, lingering just outside the cave like a demonic guardian from hell. He was sitting down, probably as to not overwhelm Kakashi with his sheer size and at Kakashi's words of gratitude, he huffed; his tail swishing back and forth.

"I wasn't going to keep you from him," he grumbled. "I promised he could see you once you showed up."

"Still thanks for taking care of him," Kakashi said quietly and took a deep breath, pulling back slightly to look at Naruto. "Now what have you been up to here, hm? Aside from potentially chattering this poor wolf's ears off."

Naruto grinned, dried his eyes with the back of his hand and settled down for a long talk, more than eager to fill Kakashi in on the months they hadn't seen each other – leaving out the more intimate details, of course.

There were some things he didn't want his pseudo father to know about, no matter how easy the man was to talk to.

* * *

"You do a lot for me," Naruto remarked quietly, watching Kakashi disappear between the trees.

It was quite late, the sun having disappeared behind the clouds several hours ago, and evening was settling in. All around them the woods started to come to life with various night animals, the little creatures preparing themselves to take over from the beings who were going to sleep now.

There was the sound of bones shifting and cracking, bending back into human features, and he leant automatically back when arms closed around his waist.

Sasuke hooked his chin over his shoulder and muttered, "Of course I do, you're my mate."

The words had warmth pooling down in Naruto's belly and he smiled, his hands landing on top of the wolf shifter's. "Yeah, I'm your mate," he agreed, sighing softly when lips pressed a hot kiss in his neck.

He didn't know when the next time would be that he would see Kakashi again. They couldn't meet up regularly for fear that other people – people who were a whole lot less fond of Naruto – would discover where he was going to and betraying their secret.

That was okay, though. He had seen Kakashi again, after so many months of fearing he had lost the man forever, and that would be enough to sustain him until the next time.

* * *

October hit the country by introducing itself with a lot of rain and wind; the howling at night so bad it nearly resembled Sasuke's wolf cry at times. They started gathering more wood to prepare for the upcoming winter, for Sasuke sensed it would be a particularly bad one.

He could smell it in the air, he'd explained when Naruto had looked at him confused, and well, if Sasuke sensed it, Naruto believed him. So they went out each day to gather wood and Sasuke switched his hunting tactics from small animals to the bigger ones once more, in order to salt the meat for the winter and prepare more fur blankets.

More tea leaves in bags were snatched out of the homes of unsuspecting villagers, together with a miscellaneous collection of clothes, including a pair of heavy boots.

At Naruto's stumped face, Sasuke explained, "Just in case you need to go outside during the winter. That way you can keep yourself warm." He eyed Naruto's old clothes critically. "Because the ones you have now aren't going to do anything to keep the cold out."

Which was true, Naruto conceded, looking down at his thin shirt and his scuffed trousers. He'd been wearing them so for so long already – out of pure necessity – that the cloth had become dangerously thin and it definitely wouldn't do anything to keep him warm during a harsh winter.

The boots were a tad too big, but he could work with that, because he didn't foresee himself making long journeys if the winter was really going to be as bad as Sasuke said it would be. As he sorted through the piles of clothes, deciding which ones were suitable and which ones weren't, he was once again struck by the thought of how much Sasuke was doing for him.

It was a thought which regularly popped up in his mind, because even two months in their new relationship, he still found it hard to believe at times that Sasuke had chosen him out of everyone he could have.

But here he was, in their cave, sorting through clothes while Sasuke was preparing some tea for the both of them. It all felt so domestic and tranquil that it had Naruto pausing in his inspection of a brown sweater and had him swallowing a lump down his throat instead.

"You okay?" Sasuke appeared quickly in front of him; his black eyes narrowed and sharp.

"Yeah, yeah, I am, just … I love you," the words tumbled out of his mouth before he could think twice, before he could stop himself, but he didn't want to stop, because it was true; by the gods, with every fibre of his being he loved this beautiful, kind man in front of him, this man who miraculously loved him back, "and I want to be your mate."

Sasuke blinked, a bemused smile gracing his lips. "You _are_ my mate or have you already forgotten what we did yesterday?" he teased, squatting down in front of him, gently pulling the sweater out of Naruto's weak grasp.

"No," Naruto said urgently, shaking his head and sitting up on his knees. His heart started beating quicker, but he knew what he wanted, what he perhaps had wanted the second Sasuke had suggested the offer. "I want the Mating Bite. I want to be your Mate."

The words hung suspended in the air between them, making the atmosphere heavy with tension. Sasuke completely stilled like a predator about to jump on its unsuspecting prey.

"Naruto, do you know what you're asking of me?" His voice descended to one of the lowest pitches Naruto had heard so far and it had his stomach performing several flips and turns in response.

"I know. I want you to Bite me," Naruto said breathlessly, shuffling closer. He halted when Sasuke held up his hand.

"Naruto – if I do that, I won't be able to hold back, you understand? "

"I don't need you to hold back," Naruto reassured him, grasping at his arms. "I never need you to hold back, I don't want you to."

It pained him to think that Sasuke still thought he needed to keep himself in check. He didn't want that at all, didn't want his wolf to hold himself back for whatever reason.

"No, Naruto, you don't get it." Sasuke shook his head. "If I Bite you, you'll be thrown into a heat. Your body will change while you're accepting the Bite, and chances are you won't remember what will happen during that time. _But I will_. Because the moment your body starts changing, the second you'll be thrown into a heat, I'll want nothing more than to _breed you full with my cubs._ I won't be able to stop myself because you will be calling out to me even if you don't know it consciously." He was nearly panting by the time he finished, his speech interspersed with growls and snarls, red draining the black colour out of his eyes.

"It's okay, I trust you. I want that, I promise," Naruto said, grabbing Sasuke's arms tightly. "I know you'll take care of me."

"That's not – because the Bite will be fresh, the chances of you becoming pregnant are really high," Sasuke warned him; his eyes intense and the tips of his fangs descending slowly. "I can try to pull back on time, but I don't dare to promise it and with how prominent your heat will be … You'll most likely end up with child after the change is complete."

For just a couple of seconds, Naruto wavered, old insecurities making him wonder whether he would be a good parent. But then he remembered he had Sasuke at his side now and he felt stronger at once. He knew he could do anything with Sasuke as his mate and that included raising a child.

He tried to imagine himself full with Sasuke's child, attempted to imagine how a child with both their features would look like. He thought it would be the most perfect baby who would ever exist, because it would be created out of their love, and that decided it for him.

He smiled and darted forwards to kiss Sasuke. "I thought I told you I don't need you to hold back anymore? Or have you forgotten that already?" he laughed quietly, his breath catching when Sasuke abruptly rose up and smoothly picked him up from the floor, marching with him to their nest.

"Last chance to back out," Sasuke said, jaw visibly clenched.

Naruto just closed his eyes and kissed him in response.

* * *

When Sasuke rose up, sitting on his knees between Naruto's spread legs, the blond felt incredibly strung out, as if all his nerves were pulled tight and vibrating like strings being plucked. He was already a mess, his entire body shivering; his chest rapidly rising and lowering as he tried to regulate his breathing.

That was no use, however, when fingers were wrapped almost casually around his cock, yet still tight enough to keep the pleasure from overflowing. Sasuke already had made him see stars once before, but he was quickly making his way up to a second time and most likely even more after this, because Naruto still wasn't Marked and was feeling too empty for his liking; Sasuke having only used his tongue and hands so far.

Not that he didn't appreciate that, but he would appreciate it a lot more if –

"You ready?" Sasuke's voice rumbled from somewhere deep within; his eyes an odd mixture of black and red as his control tethered on the verge of being completely lost.

"Yeah, I'm ready," Naruto breathed out a moment later when he understood to what Sasuke was referring.

"No going back after this," Sasuke said lowly and his hand started moving up and down Naruto's cock again; his thumb pressing against the leaking tip with every stroke upwards, making the blond whimper weakly.

"I know, I know, I want it, please!" Naruto panted, squirming underneath the hulking form of his soon to be Mate.

"You're too damn perfect," Sasuke growled and abruptly leant down.

Naruto wanted to say something, perhaps along the lines of Sasuke being the one who was too perfect for this world, but then the hand around his cock twisted in a peculiar but interesting way at the same time sharp teeth buried themselves in his neck, right above the junction where his neck met his shoulder.

Burning pain crashed into the wave of exquisite pleasure, mixing until he couldn't even tell which was what, and he was only vaguely aware of yelling, his back arching as he came almost violently; Sasuke holding him into place with simply his fangs and his hand. The wolf shifter was growling almost wildly, his strong body vibrating above Naruto's, as if he was the one who had been drowning in pleasure just now and not the blond.

The dark haired man pulled back abruptly and his entire mouth was stained with Naruto's blood. The sight of it should scare Naruto or at the very least fill him with disgust, but he could only stare up in wonder at the other one, watching him lick the blood away from his lips and his fangs, while the bite mark in his neck throbbed with heat.

Sasuke studied him intently; his gaze flicking back and forth between the bloody mark in Naruto's neck and his face. His hands started rubbing along Naruto's sides as if to soothe him, sometimes slipping low enough to caress his still quivering thighs.

Blue eyes blinked and Naruto opened his mouth, but paused; his eyes rolling up to the ceiling instead of Sasuke's face. He didn't understand what was wrong at first, merely feeling a bit off, but then he realised his vision was starting to blur as if his eyes were tired. He wasn't tired, though.

Far from it. Even though Sasuke had coaxed an orgasm out of him twice already, his body thrummed with energy anew and he started quaking for some reason, as if his body was experiencing a mini-earthquake. There was unfamiliar heat pooling in the pit of his belly, not like the one he felt when the pleasure became too much, yet not entirely unlike it either, and he reached out with his arms, needing Sasuke's touch to ground him.

"Sa-Sasuke," he stammered, starting to feel unnaturally hot as if the room was too warm. But that couldn't be it, not with the wind howling outside, travelling through the makeshift chimney to play with the flames in the hearth.

"Ssssh, ssssh, you're fine," Sasuke murmured, nuzzling his left cheek, sliding his arms underneath Naruto's back to pull him up. He ended up straddling the wolf shifter's lap with hands rubbing across his back. "Just let it happen, all right? Don't fight it, you're okay, I promise. This is just the Bite starting to change you, nothing to be afraid of. I'm here, I won't leave, I promise. Just hold on to me, just relax, that's all you need to do."

Even though every muscle in his body wanted to tense up, fighting against whatever was making him feel out of sorts, he listened to Sasuke, because Sasuke had never lied to him before, so if he said he was going to be fine, he trusted him. Because Sasuke would take care of him, like he had been doing ever since he had been dumped at this cave.

"That's it," Sasuke said lovingly, praising him and rubbing his thumb across Naruto's cheek. "That's it, just relax, you're doing so well, love. All you need to do is relax and let me take care of you, okay?" he cooed, carefully lowering Naruto back onto the thickest part of the nest, where fur after fur had been piled up.

He could do that, letting Sasuke take care of him. Sasuke was really good at that.

_Of course he's good at that_ , a voice whispered in the back of his mind. _He's your mate, he knows how to take good care of you._

Warm lips, tinged with the faint aftertaste of blood, touched his and then –

He let go.

* * *

An inferno was raging inside of him, he knew, because he was both hot inside and outside; his skin coated with flames, it felt like. Flames which were only doused when Sasuke touched him, when Sasuke kissed and licked and bit and when he finally pushed into Naruto, breaching him for the first time, stretching his entrance to its limit, Naruto felt like he could finally breathe again; his lungs expanding with the much desired fresh air.

"That's it, you're taking me so well," Sasuke was praising him, but the words reached him in an odd muffled sort of way, as if he was under water. "Look at how good you're taking me right now, you're so beautiful, so perfect and all _mine_. My beautiful, precious mate."

Words of praise, of desire, of love, kept pouring out those sinful reddened lips, only temporarily silenced when their kisses grew too deep, bordering on filthy, leaving Naruto gasping for air while at the same time begging for more, because Sasuke was what was keeping him grounded, his touch the only thing that prevented him from floating away as the heat threatened to overwhelm him.

Then Sasuke would thrust harder into him, tiny pricks of claws digging into his hips, and the heat would retreat, pushed back underneath the ever growing pleasure.

"You're going to look so amazing with your belly full with my cub," Sasuke murmured, peppering his face, his neck, his shoulders with a multitude of kisses, smirking when a faint brush of his tongue across the Bite Mark had Naruto whining, his nails scratching furiously at Sasuke's back. "You're going to be amazing at this, I just know. Our baby is going to be perfect because it will have you as its mother and they're going to grow up loved and adored. Just like I will love and adore you for the rest of our lives, because you're my mate, mine alone. Do you feel good, sweetheart? Does this feel good?"

He changed his rhythm then, his thrusts turning long and deep, his cock pressing almost ruthlessly against that one special place inside Naruto, sending sparks of too much, _no, not too much yet_ pleasure through his system; his own leaking cock pressed between their stomachs.

The ability to form actual words had left Naruto a while ago, and so he could only moan in agreement; his breath catching in his throat when Sasuke hiked his legs higher up around his waist, the new position pushing him even deeper inside the blond, something he had thought was impossible.

He was not so out of it that he couldn't feel Sasuke growing inside of him slowly, the tugs at his entrance whenever he pulled out and pushed back in tell-tale signs that his knot was growing and would soon lock them together for a while.

_He couldn't wait for that._ He couldn't wait for Sasuke to knot him properly, to fill him up with his seed, _breed him_. He wanted all that Sasuke could give him, desired to show him what a good mate he could be to his wolf. Sasuke could do whatever he wanted to and Naruto would let him, because he was a good mate and he wanted Sasuke to know that.

Sasuke's soft laughter in his neck had him shivering and he barely managed to focus on glinting red eyes when Sasuke lifted his head and looked at him. "Of course I know you're a good mate, you're very good to me," Sasuke whispered, mouthing at his jaw. "And I know you can take what I give you, because you're absolutely perfect. My perfect, beautiful mate, all ready for me to knot and breed. That's what you want, no? Being knotted so well there's no way you won't be carrying my cub after this."

His voice descended in a mixture of a hiss and a snarl, his fangs on full display now; his red eyes burning brighter than the summer sun. There were claws where hands should be, wrapped tightly around Naruto's hips, keeping him immobile should he try to escape.

He didn't want to escape, though. Not now, not ever.

Licking his lips, he focused on Sasuke, on his bit off snarls and the way his eyes glowed unnaturally; blood red having overtaken his normal black colour a long time ago. His mouth felt dry, his tongue too big for his mouth, but he finally got his vocal chords to cooperate and gasped, "I'm yours."

The snarl escaping Sasuke at hearing that was so _unholy_ , so _possessive_ , it reverberated deep within Naruto, connecting with something there and the next second, the final tidal wave of pleasure crashed over him, and he _screamed_ ; his entire body spasming and shaking in Sasuke's embrace, his pleasure drawn out again and again as Sasuke's knot finally caught, pressing against that one spot deep within him until –

Everything went dark.

* * *

Disorientated, sluggish and sore beyond belief.

That was how Naruto woke up, having no idea how much time had passed. He was still in the nest, cradled within Sasuke's arms; his back pressed against the wolf's chest. They were still connected, he discovered when he tried to move, and he could feel himself blush.

His blush deepened, his entire face burning, when Sasuke chuckled lowly behind him; a hand coming down to rest on his thigh.

"You with me again?" Sasuke murmured, kissing his shoulder gently.

"Y-yeah, how – how long …?"

"Hm, probably a few days," Sasuke replied thoughtfully. "Didn't really keep track of time. It's somewhere in the evening now, though."

"Oh." Naruto blinked surprised, not having expected to hear that a few days had passed. No wonder he felt so sore …

Wait …

His hand flew up, touching the raised ridges of the Bite Mark in his neck and he exhaled slowly. "Did it – did it take?" he asked wondrously.

"The Mark? Yes, it did. You're officially my Mate now." The hand on his thigh shifted upwards, covering his belly instead. "Your heat? Yes, yes, it did."

Naruto stared down, looking at the hand covering his belly almost protectively and he inhaled sharply when his brain finally worked out the implication. "You mean I'm – "

"With child? Yes, you are." Sasuke sounded both incredibly proud and immensely pleased about that. "I noticed your scent changed overnight. It's still faint, but I'm sure: you're pregnant."

"We're having a baby," Naruto breathed out amazed, his own hand descending onto his stomach, overlapping Sasuke's.

There was actually a baby growing inside of him now, a little tiny being who would be the perfect mix of him and Sasuke … He could hardly wrap his mind around that, too astonished by the knowledge.

"I've got a present for you," Sasuke murmured then, breaking him out of his reverie and Naruto turned his head surprised.

"A present?"

"Hm, it's tradition in my family to give our Mate a present, something meaningful to thank them for enriching our lives with their presence," Sasuke said and he seemed to be searching something at his side of the nest.

The blond blinked when a necklace dropped into his view. The cord was black, almost as black as the night, and it held a shimmery pale green stone with a hole in the middle. On each side of the stone, a long fang was hung and it took him a moment before he realised those were bear teeth.

"Sasuke …" he trailed off stunned.

"This stone is called a Fae stone, you know why?"

Naruto shook his head; his eyes glued onto the pretty pale green colour.

"Because the stone has a hole of its own, not something manmade. It means that this stone is a mirror to the Fae world," Sasuke explained. "You look through this hole and you will be able to see all sorts of Fae without them being able to see you."

"Oh wow," Naruto breathed out amazed, carefully touching the stone with his index finger. "And the teeth?"

"A reminder to everyone out there that they are not to harm you," Sasuke said calmly, but there was an undercurrent of danger running through his voice. The dangerous tone was gone the next moment, replaced by a soft one. "Will you grant me the honour of you wearing this?"

"Absolutely!" Naruto said before he could even think twice and he could practically feel Sasuke smiling as the man helped him put it on.

Carefully grasping the stone, testing the sharpness of the teeth with his thumb, Naruto murmured, "Thank you for giving this to me."

Sasuke gently turned his head around to kiss him. "Thank you for becoming my Mate."

* * *

There was something special, almost magical, about the knowledge that a child was growing inside of him.

Even though he knew full well that he wouldn't be able to see any changes, let alone feel something, for another couple of months at least, that didn't stop him from touching his stomach every day, marvelling about the little miracle that was unfolding in him.

He had gone from being a poor, unwanted orphan to someone loved and desired by one of the most beautiful and kindest men he knew and now they would be making a family of their own.

Thinking about the little babe inside of him made him wonder sometimes how his parents would have reacted should they have survived until the present day. Would they have been happy to know they would be getting a grandchild in this rather unconventional way?

Ah, but if they had still been alive, it was likely he wouldn't have met Sasuke at all then.

That was a thought that left him feeling a bit off kilter. How strange it was to realise that it was only his status as the unwanted orphan that had allowed him to meet Sasuke at all. It was something he didn't like thinking about, he decided soon, and figured that thinking such thoughts couldn't be healthy for the baby either. He'd heard women in the village talking, telling each other that negative feelings were something to be avoided when one wanted to have a healthy babe. Because if you felt too negative, that would have an effect on the baby and the baby would get sick then.

He didn't want anything bad to happen to his unborn child and resolved not to think about anything that could make him feel unhappy.

Still, sometimes it would be nice to know if his parents would have been just as happy as he was with this baby. It made him wish Danzo had at least given him time to pack so he could take some of the old pictures and his blankets with him, the only things he had still left from his parents. It couldn't replace them, obviously, but it had often made him feel closer to them, imagining the warmth and weight of the blankets were them hugging him.

"What are you thinking about?" Sasuke asked and sat down next to him.

He was sitting in front of the fire, warming himself up after having gone outside to take a leak. It was definitely freezing now, so it had to be somewhere in November. It had started to snow as well and it promised to be a heavy bout, making him happy that they had thought of creating a stock of the most essential necessities. The less they needed to go outside in this horrible cold weather, the better.

"Hm?" He looked up, relaxing against Sasuke when the man pulled him closer. "Just … It's something stupid," he smiled ruefully.

"It can't be stupid if it has you frowning like that," Sasuke chided him, tapping his forehead. "Come on, tell me what's wrong."

"I was thinking about the pictures and the blankets I had to leave behind," Naruto admitted quietly after a pause. "They obviously didn't give me time to pack, but I wished they had. That was all I had left from my parents and … I know it's stupid, but I wish I still had them."

"Not stupid at all," Sasuke murmured and drew him in a warm embrace. "You could never be stupid."

Naruto pressed his face into Sasuke's neck, taking comfort in his hug and ignoring the stinging wet heat behind his eyes.

* * *

When he woke up the next morning, folded, painfully familiar blankets and a collection of pictures greeted him. He could only stare at them, his fingers trembling when he reached out to touch the first blanket, the cotton cold and rough, but oh so welcome underneath his fingertips.

"You – you went out and got them for me?" A lump formed in his throat and he blinked tears away, his next exhale shuddery as he rubbed his thumb back and forth across a raffled corner of the blanket.

Sasuke cupped his neck and when Naruto looked up, he was kissed softly. "You needed to have them, right?" Sasuke said, caressing his cheek. "So I went out and got them for you."

"Thank you," Naruto choked out, wrapping his arms around the wolf's neck in a tight embrace.

_He had his pictures and his blankets again._

If he had doubted before whether Sasuke truly loved him, all those doubts had now been swept away, destroyed with the presence of the pictures and blankets he had missed so much ever since he had been forced to leave his shack.

Now he had them back and he could tell his baby all about his grandparents and show him or her how they looked like.

_He could look at his mother and father again._

If their next kiss tasted somewhat salty, wetter than normal, neither of them remarked on it.

* * *

He hummed to himself, looking through the pictures Sasuke had gone out to collect for him. It hadn't been until an hour after having woken up to see the blankets and the pictures waiting for him, that he had realised Sasuke had actually gone _inside the village_ to get these things for him.

" _It could have been so dangerous!" Naruto said worriedly. "You shouldn't have done that. What if someone had seen you?"_

" _Then they had best prayed they would be gone before I got to them," Sasuke snorted and drew him in for a kiss. "No need to worry, nobody in there is a threat to me. There was nobody outside at that hour anyway."_

Which well, was true. If Kakashi couldn't take on Sasuke – which he couldn't, he had admitted as much when he had been here – there was nobody else strong enough in the village to defeat Sasuke, let alone be able to subdue him. Kakashi was one of the strongest people Naruto knew, so if he was incapable of defeating Sasuke, then there was no need to worry about someone else.

Still, to think Sasuke had risked his life just to get some pictures and some old blankets … It made him realise just how much the wolf shifter actually loved him.

He paused at the picture he had drawn of Tsunade; it showed his grandmother sitting behind her desk, a concentrated look on her face. He had drawn that one back when he had been sick with the flu and she had kept him at her house, unwilling to let him stay alone in his shack. He didn't get sick that often, so he knew he had really scared her when he had collapsed in her office that afternoon, the fever burning away all his strength.

The next one was one of Kakashi, during the rare times he had caught the man napping. He smiled at the picture, recalling how Kakashi had startled awake right when Naruto had drawn the last line.

The older man had been embarrassed to have been drawn asleep and had chased Naruto around, attempting to get his hands on the picture, but the blond boy had been quicker and eventually Kakashi had had to give up, making him promise to never show it to anyone.

His smile grew when Sasuke came to sit behind him, his legs bracketing Naruto's, and his arms resting casually around his waist.

"I've been meaning to ask – why have you not asked to see more people than those two?" Sasuke inquired curiously.

The question innocent as it was had Naruto tensing up nonetheless and he slowly put the picture down, staring at Kakashi's sleeping face. "Because there's nobody else to see," he answered simply. "Nobody else wanted to be around me but them."

"Did the others hurt you?" His voice was still calm, but an edge was nonetheless audible in it.

"Naruto," Sasuke said warningly when the blond was silent for too long.

Naruto heaved a huge sigh. "Sometimes," he muttered, frowning. "A lot," he admitted more quiet, rubbing over his left wrist.

When he concentrated he could still feel the stinging smack of the wooden stick hitting his wrist when one of the shopkeepers had falsely accused him of stealing an apple.

It had just been one of the many injuries he'd experienced whilst living at the village, because no matter what, people always seemed to have found a reason to hurt him.

He stilled when Sasuke hooked his chin over his shoulder and started caressing his stomach. "Can you tell me about them?"

Naruto stared at the pictures for a long time, remembering the taunts and the curses, the bruises and the pain.

He took a deep breath and started talking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: So yes, I hope this made up for the long wait *coughs* I also hope nothing came across as too rushed in this chapter ...
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
> 
> I hope to see you all back in the next part (because this thing just keeps growing, jeez)! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	5. Part 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Apologies again for the lateness. I'm still feeling tired for some reason, but I battled through it to finish the chapter today. It gave me a bit of trouble at times, but I hope it isn't too bad!
> 
> Thank you so much for all your comments and your kudos! I seriously cannot believe this story has already passed 400 kudos! O_O
> 
> Warnings: Violence; character deaths; references to past non-con events (no rape, but there are mentions of unwelcome touching); mature content; minor time skips; quite the darkish chapter
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like it!

**Part 5**

"Most of them just ignored me, pretended I wasn't there. No matter how hard I tried, they just – looked away, as if I didn't exist."

A nose nuzzled the hollow underneath his left ear, thumbs stroking his jutting hipbones.

"There – there was a man, a teacher, who – his name's Mizuki and he – he told me he could give me private lessons, teach me how to read and write." He couldn't help but tense up, nausea filling him as the memory surfaced again. He hadn't thought about it for so long, had pushed it to the deepest recesses of his mind, determined, desperate not to think about it anymore.

"What did he do?" Sasuke asked quietly, stroking his sides now, up and down, up and down; his hands like warm brands tracing searing heat over the thick shirt he'd chosen to wear today.

Staring into the fire, Naruto swallowed; his hands twisting the edge of his shirt violently together. "He – I was nine and every kid attended school, but I couldn't, because I didn't have the money for it. I didn't know how to read or write and – and that was only more reason for people to ignore me, because they – they considered me dumb or so, unable to learn anything."

He closed his eyes, bile rising up as he remembered all too clearly that particular day in early spring, Mizuki coming to get him, leading him to his house in one of the more quiet parts of the village. He recalled how silent the neighbourhood had been, not even the chirping of the birds audible as if even the animals didn't want to be a witness to Mizuki's planning. The door falling shut, how final the sound of it had been, like nails being driven into a coffin.

Nine year old him had been nervous, uneasy, already feeling like something wasn't right even when just setting foot inside the house, but oh so desperate to finally start belonging in the village, thinking that if he just learnt how to read and write people would finally accept him.

"Naruto? What did he do?"

Still keeping his eyes clenched shut, unwilling to open them, Naruto answered haltingly, "I – had to sit down on his lap, because there was only one chair. Well, he said that, but – I saw the others collected in the kitchen. But I did what he asked, because – he was the first adult to talk to me and who wanted to help me, and I thought – this had to be normal."

How hard he had tried to tell himself that Mizuki's request had been normal, that nothing was strange about it. Maybe those other chairs were ready to fall apart and that was why the older man had put them away, maybe teaching him would work better in close proximity … Nine year old him was so desperate to belong that he had agreed to sit on Mizuki's lap, even when it didn't feel good at all, even when doing so made his stomach roll violently, as if he was about to throw up.

"He – he began teaching me the alphabet, but – his hands were on my thighs." He opened his eyes, staring blankly at the flames. "He didn't move them at first, but then … He – he started stroking me – there. I tried to move away, but he just grabbed my wrists and told me to sit still. I didn't know – I didn't know what to do so I just sat there and then his hands, they - "

His stomach rolled with those awful phantom touches, the way those big hands had slipped higher and higher up his thighs, dipping between them, too hot, too heavy, his legs being forced apart. All the while Mizuki just kept reciting the alphabet, droning the letters, like nothing was happening, like he wasn't touching him in the wrong way.

He shook his head roughly and grabbed Sasuke's wrists tightly; the wolf immediately halting his stroking. "I – he tried to go further, but then someone knocked on the door and he stopped."

He would never forget the look on Kakashi's face when Naruto had emerged in the hallway, wanting nothing more than to escape Mizuki's clutches. Kakashi had taken him away immediately and had tried to get Mizuki arrested, but it had been the teacher's word against that of the unwanted orphan and Danzo had been staunchly on Mizuki's side. Nothing had resulted from it, though not for a lack of trying on Kakashi's part, and Naruto had spent the rest of his years in the village avoiding Mizuki at all costs.

"One of the Hyuuga children, Neji, he saw me there and whenever he saw me after that, he kept – taunting me, calling me a useless, weak girl, because only girls were used by Mizuki and - " he cut himself off, shaking his head again.

He still didn't get why Neji had decided to taunt him every time they had crossed paths, for it had become abundantly clear to Naruto that he didn't taunt the girls in the same manner, even when Mizuki was bothering them.

"Were there others still?" Sasuke inquired, turning his hands around to tangle his with Naruto's.

The blond hesitated, but nodded; each and every taunt, shove, push, smack embedded in his memory.

"Tell me about them. Give me their names," Sasuke whispered, his voice like velvet, so soft and hypnotising that Naruto felt himself give in readily.

And so he told him the rest and offered the name of every single person who had ever hurt and abused him, who had made him feel lesser than the dirt underneath their boots. He gave them all up – and when he finally stopped talking, cradled against Sasuke's chest, warm and cherished, he felt blissfully empty.

* * *

Upon waking up, he realised very quickly that he was alone in the nest. A bit perturbed for Sasuke wasn't in the habit of leaving him to wake up alone, especially not now when he was expecting a child, he sat up, eyeing the cave confused.

The fire was still going, as strong as when he had gone to sleep, so that meant that Sasuke had put more wood in it recently. How recent, though? And where had he gone to that it couldn't wait for Naruto to be awake?

Not that Sasuke was obligated to stay in the cave until Naruto woke up, but it had been so long since he'd last woken up alone that he couldn't help but feel a tad lonely now.

He rose up, letting the blanket drop down, and had just set one foot outside the nest when Sasuke suddenly appeared, padding in his wolf form further into the cavern. He appeared satisfied for some reason and when he came close enough, even Naruto's human nose – much weaker than Sasuke's wolf one – was capable of picking up a whiff of copper.

_Blood._

"Are you hurt?" he demanded urgently, staving off the panic threatening to overwhelm him for now. Sasuke didn't look hurt, but why did he smell like blood then?

"Should go for another dip in the water," Sasuke said nonsensically and transformed to his human form; the noise of bones cracking and stretching filling the cave for a moment. He looked down at himself as if checking something.

"Sasuke, what did you do?" Naruto asked, growing even more confused when Sasuke's naked form revealed no visible injuries that would explain the stench of blood.

"I taught a lesson," Sasuke answered simply and drew him closer, wrapping him in a warm embrace.

"A lesson, what …" Naruto inhaled sharply, pulling back abruptly to stare up in gleaming black eyes. "When you say lesson, you mean - "

"Nobody is allowed to hurt you," Sasuke said, brushing his lips across his forehead. "You've eaten yet?"

"Who?" Naruto swallowed, hands clenching down on Sasuke's forearms as he tried to figure out just who he had condemned to the fate of being killed by the wolf.

"The one who thought he had permission to touch you inappropriately," Sasuke replied frankly. "I made sure he'll never be able to do that again."

_Mizuki_. Was – had he killed Mizuki? Or was he still alive? If so, how badly injured was he?

But – did it really matter? Mizuki had done nothing but hurt children the entire time he'd lived there, always protected by Danzo, no matter how many parents came forwards. He'd tried to hurt Naruto and had most likely succeeded with some of the girls.

Did it really matter then what Sasuke had done to him? How many times hadn't Naruto wished that Mizuki would be punished? How many times hadn't he overheard other adults fervently wishing that Mizuki would drop dead, that Danzo would finally stop protecting him?

Too many times to count, really.

And now Sasuke had done just that: had punished Mizuki for his wandering hands and his deceitful promises.

Try as he might, Naruto couldn't find it in him to feel sorry for the older man. He had had years to redeem himself and had never done that. But now punishment had finally arrived in the form of a vengeful wolf shifter.

Tucking his face in Sasuke's neck, breathing in his familiar scent underneath that of faint copper, he murmured, "Thank you."

_Thank you for punishing him. Thank you for believing me when so very few people have wanted to do that. Thank you for stopping the nightmare._

Cool fingers slipped underneath his chin, coaxing him to look up, and when he did, he met soft black eyes before his mouth was captured in an equally tender kiss.

"You're welcome," was all that Sasuke said before he guided him to the table, setting about preparing breakfast for the both of them.

Naruto sat there, watching Sasuke heat up tea and crack some eggs on a flat, broad stone in order to cook them, and warmth curled up in the pit of his belly, and he smiled.

It felt good to be loved.

* * *

Winter this year was one of the harshest Naruto had experienced so far, making him grateful for all the preparations they had done in advance. He could hear the wind howling something fierce nearly every night, snow seemingly piling up more and more every time he ventured outside to use the toilet, but inside the cave it was always pleasantly warm, both thanks to the fire burning brightly every day and to the giant wolf curling up with him in the nest whenever possible.

It had to be somewhere after New Year's, when Naruto was lying down in the nest, blankets pushed to the side, watching Sasuke nuzzle his stomach, pale fingers touching and caressing nonstop. Since a couple of days Naruto had noticed his stomach could no longer be called flat; instead a hint of a swelling was showing, palpable whenever he rested his hand against it.

The proof of his belly finally growing, finally filling out day by day, made the idea of expecting a baby finally concrete and he couldn't help but touch his stomach every morning now, excited to feel the swelling, tiny as it might be still.

Thinking about the little being growing inside of him had him thinking about something else, something that while not pressing at the moment would prove to be very important in the future and he needed to be prepared.

"I've been wondering," he started slowly, twisting onto his side when Sasuke looked at him and sat up, keeping one hand curved around his hip.

"About?" A dark eyebrow rose up.

"I know the Bite changed me enough to carry your baby, but …" he trailed off, biting his lip as he thought about the best way to form his question without growing too embarrassed.

A finger pulling his abused lip free had him gazing at Sasuke in surprise and the man smiled faintly, stroking his cheek. "But what?"

"I – I don't think it changed me that much physically and I was wondering – how the baby would come out," he finished haltingly, feeling his entire face burn with embarrassment, but not knowing how to word it otherwise.

It was a valid concern, however. If the baby ended up needing to be cut out of him, he wanted to know!

"You haven't touched yourself there at all?" Sasuke asked amused, making Naruto redden even more.

"Of course not, why would I?" he squeaked, flushing even harder when Sasuke smiled wickedly.

"It's simple," Sasuke drawled and his hand slipped between Naruto's legs, making the blond jump in surprise.

His cheeks felt like they were on fire when Sasuke's hand went higher and higher, slipping past his cock; his fingers resting right behind his balls. Two fingers pressed against his skin there; the sensation strange and on the verge of invasive, which Naruto didn't understand, because he'd never felt that way before around Sasuke.

"It's still rather small, so it's not noticeable unless you actively search for it," Sasuke said, almost thoughtful. "When your body accepted the Bite, it not only created the womb to host our cub, but it also formed an extra opening here." His fingers pressed more firmly against the mentioned opening and Naruto couldn't help but squirm when he felt one finger seemingly slipping inside him a bit.

"It will form completely once you're further along," Sasuke explained. "And once you're ready to give birth, it'll have formed completely."

Well, that sounded better than being cut open at least, even if it was rather embarrassing to hear. Still, it was rather incredible that the Bite managed to change his body this much.

Upon feeling Sasuke's amused gaze on him, he scowled. "What?" he asked rather defensively. He didn't appreciate feeling like he was being made fun of.

"I'm amazed you never touch yourself," he said; his eyes gleaming mischievously.

Naruto pouted and looked away. "Why would I when you do it?" he muttered, the words almost too inaudible to be heard.

Almost, because Sasuke definitely heard them with his sharp hearing and the way his dark eyes started to glimmer had Naruto involuntarily shivering slightly.

"And do you like it when I touch you?" the wolf shifter asked teasingly, pulling his hand back to glide it down Naruto's thigh.

"Of course I do, you know that," Naruto mumbled; the admission leaving him before he could think twice about it.

"I don't know," Sasuke said lowly and bent down, hovering above him. His bangs fell forwards, creating a curtain around his face. "Your body definitely reacts well, but it's nice to hear it confirmed too."

"As if I'm not loud enough already," Naruto shot back, willingly letting himself be turned onto his back; his legs spreading to cradle his mate between them.

His reply had Sasuke smirking and the tips of his fingers dancing across Naruto's thigh, leaving goose bumps behind in their wake. "Again, your body tells me a lot – but verbal confirmation is always nice," he murmured and kissed the blond before he could say something.

Both of them were naked; Naruto's clothes having been flung out of the nest a few hours ago when he had smelt too irresistible according to the wolf and Naruto hadn't seen the need to get dressed again afterwards. That ended up being a good decision when Sasuke's fingers easily slipped inside of him, guided by the natural slick his body had started to produce since he had accepted the Bite.

He was still fairly stretched and Sasuke's fingers slipped out of him; unwillingly eliciting a disappointed moan from him. He was definitely blushing when Sasuke smirked at him and his gasp was swallowed by a deep kiss when the wolf pushed inside of him, stretching him out further.

Sometimes it felt like no matter how many times they would make love, it still wasn't easy to accept Sasuke in him all at once, but it wasn't enough to deter him. On the contrary, he had come to love the feeling of being stretched out around his mate's cock, even when he would never dare to admit so aloud, and he slung his arms around Sasuke's shoulders, using the support to throw his legs around his waist. That had the other man sinking even deeper in him, if that was even possible still, and he groaned approvingly, loving the sensation of being completely filled by his mate.

"You can move," he whispered, nipping at Sasuke's ear. Sasuke still waited for his permission to move every time, even when it had only been a couple of hours since they had done it last, like he was afraid that he would hurt Naruto.

He couldn't, though, Naruto was sure of that. He trusted him not to hurt him and so far his trust had been rewarded each and every time.

His teeth on Sasuke's ear shell had the wolf shifter grumbling lowly, his eyes flashing red, and he began to move, pulling back slowly, so slow Naruto couldn't help but whine, and then slamming back inside fluently, tearing a choked moan out of the blond boy.

The rhythm Sasuke set was fast, but deep; every stroke inside hitting that one special place inside Naruto, one which had him seeing stars, pleasure coursing through every vein, every time that particular spot was struck.

"Look at you, so gorgeous," Sasuke murmured huskily; his eyes flickering between black and red, one hand gripping Naruto's hip while the other one snatched Naruto's hand and pressed it down next to his head, keeping it immobile there.

His thrusts were growing more forceful, harsher; a sign, Naruto had learnt by now, which meant that he was close to knotting him. Seeking out Sasuke's mouth, he moaned when he felt the wolf's knot catching at his entrance, before Sasuke pulled back again; the knot not big enough yet to lock them together.

"Come on, give it to me," he pleaded, teeth catching at Sasuke's lip, drawing a bit of blood.

Sasuke grinned, eyes hooded, as he pulled his head back and asked, "What? What do you want me to give to you?"

"You know what," Naruto whined, using his free hand to grab onto Sasuke's arse and press him closer.

"I'm not a mind reader," Sasuke reminded him; laughter audible in his voice and Naruto huffed, throwing his head back in frustration.

"I want your knot!" he snapped, hissing when Sasuke bit his neck, snarling; hot breath rushing against his heated skin.

"Because you ask so nicely," he smirked; his thrusts turning even rougher now, his eyes a permanent blood red colour now.

"Oh, oh, th-the-re." Blue eyes rolled back, his back arching, when Sasuke's knot finally caught, his entrance burning slightly when Sasuke pushed through, filling him completely.

That was all it took for the pleasure to become too much and he was yelling something incomprehensible when he came, spilling between their stomachs, muscles tightening around the wolf's knot.

Sasuke actually _howled_ when he came, filling Naruto's channel to the point he could feel it dripping out of him, and his mouth was caught in a bruising kiss; their teeth almost clacking together.

Exhaustion taking over soon, he felt drained from the pleasure and the aftershocks he was still experiencing, and he let Sasuke turn them around so the wolf shifter ended up on his back with Naruto lying limply on top of him.

He fell asleep before the knot was even half way down.

* * *

Despite what most villagers had always thought, Naruto wasn't dumb. He was very much aware of the fact that some nights Sasuke sneaked out of the cave, coming back within two hours of leaving every time.

Naruto never asked what he had been doing or where he had been, because the scent clinging to the wolf was more than obvious. He didn't always carry the scent; it mostly depended on how well he'd been able to wash it off.

"You don't have to do this for me, you know," he said quietly one night when Sasuke slipped back in the nest with him.

There was no obvious stench of copper this time, but the forest scent clung even heavier to the older man than usual, which was a dead give away of what he had been up to in the short time period he'd been gone.

"They deserve it for how they've been treating you for all these years," Sasuke murmured, slotting into place behind him, curling one arm around his stomach. "It's time they learnt that they're not above you."

Naruto remained quiet, wondering what the villagers were thinking now that they were being hunted down one by one. Had they made the connection? Did they assume those were merely random attacks? If they knew the Beast was back to hunting them all down, would they know why? Or would they think the Beast had broken his promise?

"Do you want me to stop?" Sasuke asked curiously; his hand idly caressing Naruto's stomach. He didn't sound offended nor angry about it, not even resigned. Just a simple question and he would abide by whatever Naruto said.

Naruto thought he should want Sasuke to stop attacking the villagers. He shouldn't want him to keep continuing attacking them, most likely killing them even. He didn't have the right to want that. Didn't have the right to decide their fate like he was some kind of god.

He should tell him to stop – but he didn't. Because a part of him, a dark part, _liked_ that those villagers were finally experiencing the pain and fear he had been put through throughout all those years. He liked that Sasuke loved him enough to want to get rid of those people, even though they had never personally offended him.

What did that say about him?

"That you think like a wolf," Sasuke answered; his voice a near grumble as he sniffed the back of Naruto's neck. "What they did to you – they deserve every bit of pain I inflict on them."

"Only the ones I told you about," Naruto said, curling his fingers around Sasuke's wrist, wondering if that specification made him even worse or just the tiniest bit better.

"Only them," Sasuke agreed, almost purring. "The rest are safe, but those who hurt you – they will pay the price, one by one."

It said something about him, Naruto thought, that hearing that actually made him fall asleep easier.

He did not care to figure out just what exactly it said about him.

* * *

It must be somewhere near the end of February when the last traces of snow finally melted away and the first stirrings of early spring made themselves know in the form of early flower buds tentatively starting to grow.

Sasuke had debated leaving at the start of spring, because it would take several months to reach the place where his family lived, but in the end Naruto's pregnancy put a hold on those plans; the wolf shifter unwilling to travel for so long with an expecting mate. Especially when travelling meant that Naruto might end up giving birth before they had even reached Sasuke's family; something the older man didn't want to risk.

"Does it bother you that we can't leave yet?" Naruto asked, a bit nervous, feeling like he had made a mistake by asking for the Bite so early on.

If he hadn't asked for it, then he wouldn't be pregnant now and they would have been able to leave. Sasuke would have met his family much earlier then, than now when they would have to stay here for probably another winter.

How long would it have been then since he last saw his parents and his brother? Was he regretting Biting Naruto now?

Sasuke eyed him curiously, stretched out next to him in the nest like a really big cat instead of the wolf he actually was. "Why would it bother me?"

"Because you'll have to wait longer to see your family again," Naruto replied, rubbing anxiously over his stomach. It had grown to a more noticeable swell now and since a week he could feel their baby fussing around; his or her kicks feather light still but already palpable.

The first time he'd felt their baby moving, he had dropped his cup of tea on the table in shock, startling Sasuke out of the doze he'd fallen into just a few minutes before. The wolf shifter had been next to him in an instant, his nose pressed into Naruto's stomach and he'd growled happily when he'd realised what had been happening.

He looked up startled when his hands were grabbed, fingers tangling with his. He worried his lip between his teeth when soft black eyes met his own blue ones and Sasuke clucked his tongue gently.

"I don't know why you're worrying so much now," Sasuke remarked, bringing his hands up to nuzzle the back of them. "It's not like it will be years before we see them. Just one more winter and then we can start our journey; that's not terribly long. I want you and our cub to be safe; that means staying here until next winter has passed."

"But your family – won't they think it strange if you show up with not only me but also a baby already? They're only expecting your mate, right?"

"You really have the oddest conceptions about my family," Sasuke commented, huffing through his nose. "They won't think it strange; they'll only be excited, trust me. Instead of just one, they get two new members to dote on. They'll be ecstatic for sure."

"If you say so," Naruto mumbled, still a tad apprehensive.

"I say so," Sasuke said decisively and pecked his lips. "You don't have to worry about a thing, all right? Everything's going to be fine. Worrying's not good for you anyways, especially not now." His right hand dipped down to cup Naruto's belly; a smile curving around his lips when their baby responded to his touch.

"I'm not worrying," Naruto muttered petulantly, but the rest of his protest was swallowed up by a deep kiss and he didn't feel like complaining further after that.

* * *

The wind whistled in his ears, playing with his hair and his shirt as Sasuke ran swiftly through the woods, jumping over bushes like it was nothing.

He couldn't help but start laughing when their baby started kicking up a major fuss in his belly, growing excited like past times when Sasuke went running in his wolf form with Naruto riding on his back. Just as much as Naruto enjoyed riding on Sasuke's back, just as much seemed their baby to enjoy it too, kicking and pushing as if he or she was trying to mimic the running.

Sasuke slowed down to a stop when they reached one of the meadows deeper into the woods and as Naruto carefully got off his back, cradling his belly with one hand, he questioned lightly, "What has got you so happy all of a sudden?"

"The baby," Naruto grinned, patting his stomach gently. "He or she seems to enjoy me riding you just as much as I do."

The wolf bared his teeth in a wicked grin. "Wonder which form you mean: my human or my wolf form?" There was no mistaking the smirk in his voice and Naruto gasped, cheeks aflame, as he slapped Sasuke's shoulder.

"Sasuke!" he squeaked embarrassed. "You can't say that like that!"

"What? It's the truth," Sasuke retorted innocently, pushing his snout into Naruto's stomach.

He'd grown into the habit of doing that, admitting that he loved how closely that allowed him to hear their baby moving within Naruto.

"No, it's not and - "

The only warning they got was a sharp whistling sound and then an arrow suddenly struck the ground right in front of Sasuke's left paw; the feathers on it a bright white. They both froze for a moment until another whistling noise broke through the silence and a second arrow landed straight between Naruto's feet; the shock when it hit the earth straight on palpable for a second.

"Get behind the tree!" Sasuke snarled, instantly breaking out of his stupor and he shoved Naruto towards the tree, not even letting up when the blond stumbled.

"Wait, what's going on?" Naruto asked panicked and with one last push he was shoved behind a thick, old tree; the bark looking like it had been a victim of arrows in the past.

"Stay there!" was all that Sasuke snarled at him before he jumped away, rushing away from the tree to draw the attention of whoever was shooting at them.

Perhaps the plan had been to lead the attacker – or attackers – away from Naruto, Sasuke using himself as a distraction, but the wolf didn't get that far before a sudden barrage of arrows forced him to stop, twisting away at the last second before one of the arrows could hit him.

Immediately Naruto realised they were in big trouble. There was no way one single person was able to shoot that many arrows – he counted at least twenty, if not more – all at once, which meant that they were dealing with multiple attackers now, hunters most likely. The arrows looked too sophisticated to belong to farmers or non-professional hunters.

How many were there? How had they managed to find them? Had they been tracking them down all this time? No, couldn't be, Sasuke would have known if a group had been following them.

Just pure luck on their side then?

A piercing howl snatched him abruptly out of his thoughts and he watched horrified how one of the arrows had found its goal, protruding out of Sasuke's shoulder.

"Sasuke!" he yelled, ready to dash forwards, but Sasuke snarled at him, his eyes a fierce red, and all the strength abruptly left him as if the sound had stolen all of it.

He could only sit there, watching horrified and helpless how arrow after arrow was shot at his wolf, his Sasuke; the barrage never stopping, never even giving the wolf shifter the slightest opening to run away or attack.

All Sasuke could do was try to avoid the arrows as much as possible, but he was growing slower as more and more arrows starting hitting their target. By now there were three embedded in his shoulders, one in his thigh, and he already had ripped out several others. He was bleeding visibly and was starting to limp; the attackers focusing on the leg in which he had an arrow sticking out of.

Naruto had to do something! But what? The attacks didn't stop and there was no way for him to rush over and drag Sasuke to safety before arrows would hit him too. But he couldn't just sit here and watch his mate die!

Desperately he started looking around, wondering amidst growing panic what he could do to save Sasuke, when he suddenly saw it.

A man sitting in a tree; his attention focused on Sasuke completely as he aimed his bow and shot an arrow. The uniform he wore was familiar even when Naruto had only seen it once before: the hunter belonged to an elite corps, one which was usually hired to track down dangerous criminals and take them down. Kakashi had worked with them once before and had told Naruto he preferred to never have to do that again, for these hunters were of a particular cruel sort, worse than most hardened criminals even. They didn't stop until they had found their target and most of the time their target didn't live to tell the tale.

They were handsomely paid, but nobody liked to see them arrive. Why were they here?

That didn't matter now. He had to find a way to somehow disrupt their attack, give Sasuke a chance to find an opening.

Wildly he looked around, hissing in victory when he found something suitable enough. The rock was slightly bigger than his palm, making it a bit difficult to grasp firmly, but he succeeded and with the rock clenched in his hand, he slowly rose up, trying his best not to attract the hunter's attention.

They appeared to think that the only threat was Sasuke, which in a way he supposed was true. Why consider a human a threat when you were attacking a Beast? He was going to take full advantage of their mistake now.

Pulling his arm back, he narrowed his eyes, estimating how far the distance was between him and the first hunter. Putting as much force behind it as he could, he flung the rock straight at the hunter with a furious scream.

The rock smashed into the hunter's head and he fell off the branch, smacking down on the ground harsh. Naruto ran over to him, snatched the rock off the ground and slammed it down on the man's head again when he looked like he was about to move.

Again and again and again he smashed the rock onto that bastard's head, wanting to hurt him as much as he and his companions were hurting Sasuke. There was yelling all around him, but that was only a background noise to him; all his focus zeroed in on the man lying crumpled beneath him, blood forming a steadily bigger pool around him.

Again and again and again and –

"LET ME GO!" he screamed when strong arms wrapped around his chest, dragging him away from the hunter.

They were going to kill Sasuke, then their cub, they were going to kill all three of them, and he wouldn't get to see Sasuke again, he wouldn't get to meet their cub, their baby, and –

"Naruto, Naruto, it's me, it's me!"

Sasuke's voice was like a bucket of ice being dumped on him and he froze before he whirled around, eyes wide as he took stock of how Sasuke looked like.

He was in his human form now, no arrows sticking out of him anymore, but he was still bleeding; several wounds sluggishly pumping out blood, colouring his pale skin a rusty red. His dark hair was matted, plastered against his forehead, and his eyes were slowly turning black, the redness draining away bit by bit.

Behind him the meadow was littered with the bodies of seven hunters, all in various stages of being ripped apart, their bows and arrows broken and scattered around them.

He looked down then at his hand, clenching the rock smeared with blood, so much of it that it was dripping down on the ground, soaked up by the earth like it was rain, and dazed he went to turn around, to look at the remaining hunter.

Before he could fully turn around however, Sasuke embraced him tightly, clutching him against his chest; one hand cupping his head, keeping his face pressed in Sasuke's neck and the other cupping the side of his belly, thumb pressing into his stomach.

The rock dropped down with a dull ' _thud_ ' and Naruto started trembling, though he didn't understand why, because it wasn't so cold, not with how firmly pressed he was against Sasuke, and yet he couldn't stop trembling, couldn't stop shaking and his chest was starting to hurt with every exhale he did.

"Wh-wh-what d-did I – I d-do?" he stammered, shock settling in, his vision growing blurry.

"You saved me," Sasuke said simply.

He had saved … He started laughing hysterically, his hands clutching Sasuke's shoulders; his whole frame shaking with his laughter before that soon turned to screams and those turned into sobs.

The whole time Sasuke just held him close; a steady rock in the sudden storm they had found themselves in.

* * *

When they finally reached the cave again, Sasuke being supported by Naruto, his injuries too severe to heal immediately, Kakashi and Tsunade were waiting for them; their faces pale and drawn tight with worry.

Tsunade gasped when she saw them and hurried over to them, stopping only when Sasuke snarled warningly at her.

"They found you," Kakashi said, looking so pale he might as well have turned into a ghost.

Naruto stopped, staring at him. "You knew about this?" he asked, feeling sick at the thought that he had been betrayed by the one person he had thought would never hurt him.

Had Kakashi deceived him for all these years? Had his gratitude towards Sasuke been nothing but a lie?

"I was only just told about this," Kakashi answered, tempering Naruto's growing panic. "I returned from a mission when I noticed the sigil of the hunters on the saddle of their horses. I went straight to Danzo who told me the council had decided in my absence that the best way to deal with the Beast would be to hire the hunters. As soon as I was told, I came straight here to warn you."

"I followed because he looked too concerned for my liking," Tsunade added, though her focus was entirely on Sasuke's injuries; her lips thinning when she noted the amount of blood covering them both. Her hand went to her satchel. "Do I have your permission to treat you?"

"I'll heal," Sasuke grunted; his eyes narrowed until mere specks of black were visible.

"I know," she said dryly, "but those look bad enough on their own now, let alone if they get infected. Do you really want to risk letting an infection settle in?"

Sasuke glared at her, his lips pressed together, and he didn't appear willing to give in.

"Sasuke, let her help you," Naruto whispered urgently. "She knows what she's doing and you lost a lot of blood already."

Sasuke stared at him, his dark eyes like bottomless pits; his skin paper white. He had been losing blood the whole journey back to the cave and Naruto could only hope rain would arrive to wash out their tracks.

"Fine," Sasuke said tersely, startling all three of them. "But you make one wrong move and I will snap your throat with my teeth."

"Understood," she said, raising an eyebrow. "How about we get you settled in your home before you completely bleed out on us?"

* * *

Tsunade and Kakashi stayed for several hours; the doctor attending to all of Sasuke's injuries. She rinsed out the wounds first, which nearly earnt her a swipe of long claws before Naruto snatched Sasuke's hands and pressed them tightly against his stomach. Their baby was tumbling agitatedly inside of him, clearly feeling something was amiss, and he hoped that their baby's movements would calm down Sasuke long enough for Tsunade to continue her examination.

If either Tsunade or Kakashi noticed the peculiar way Sasuke held on to his belly or even how swollen his stomach looked like, they were smart enough not to remark on it.

"What happened to them?" Kakashi asked. He was lingering near the entrance, though he wandered over at times to give new bandages to Tsunade whenever she demanded them.

Sasuke bared his teeth, but didn't look up, even though he twitched when she started cleaning the deeper wounds on his back. "Got rid of them all," he answered through clenched teeth. "You're going to tell that bastard that?"

Kakashi paused, looking thoughtful before he shrugged. "No, let him figure out on his own that even elite hunters are no match for you."

"Best not to repeat this encounter too much, though," Tsunade remarked, winding a bandage around Sasuke's left arm. "Strong you may be, they clearly did a number on you."

"You should see how they look like now," Sasuke said darkly, exhaling a shuddering breath when she started stitching close the biggest wound.

She clucked her tongue, focusing on threading the needle through his skin. "I'm sure they're quite the sight to behold. Now hold still; I don't want to hurt you any more than you already do."

He snorted, but obeyed surprisingly, holding as still as he could.

She and Kakashi left soon after, promising they would keep their ears peeled and eyes open in case Danzo would plan another attack as soon as he realised the hunters had failed.

Sasuke sat up as soon as they were gone, appearing restless. Nearly his entire torso was wrapped in bandages and his thigh was as well. He was sporting some smaller cuts on his forehead and his hands, but they were slowly healing on their own; dark red lines fading to pink gradually.

Naruto stood up, going to the small basin in which hot water had been poured earlier on. It had cooled down somewhat, so that it wasn't scorching hot anymore and he dipped a cloth into it, one Tsunade had left behind. Once it was completely soaked through, he retrieved it from the basin and squeezed out the excess water.

He made his way back to the nest with the now damp cloth and carefully started cleaning the blood off Sasuke, watching skin bloom pinkish before the colour faded away again, leaving nothing but pale skin behind.

He rinsed the cloth four times before all the blood had been scrubbed off, all too aware of the heavy gaze resting on him as he was doing so.

"Do you think Danzo will try something again?" he questioned lowly, rinsing out the cloth one more time before he draped it over the edge of the basin. He would pour out the water tomorrow; he didn't think he had any energy left to make the trip through the tunnels again.

"I don't know, I underestimated him clearly," Sasuke admitted chagrined.

Biting down on his lip, Naruto slowly sank next to him on his knees, resting his hands on his lap. "How long until you're fully healed?"

Sasuke had been attacked once before by the bear, but his wounds hadn't appeared so severe back then.

Sasuke glanced down at himself. "Give it a day and I'll be healed," he muttered, stretching out his arms carefully. He then reached out to pull Naruto against him, sticking his nose in his hair and breathing in deeply.

"What are we going to do now?"

Sasuke's voice when he answered was so deep, Naruto could feel it reverberating in his own bones. "We can no longer stay here. We're going to move."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: Yeah, this turned out a bit darker than the previous chapters *coughs*
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
> 
> I hope to see you all back in the next part! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	6. Part 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Many, many apologies for the delay. These first three weeks of university have been a near nightmare with this week being an entire shitfest, so yeah, sorry it took me so long to finish this part. I worked until two thirty in the morning to finally finish this (do not copy me, you will regret it immensely when you have to get up early like me).
> 
> Thank you so much for your comments and your kudos! It really makes me happy to see that this story already passed 500 kudos! :O
> 
> Warnings: relatively darkish chapter; character death; working through trauma; minor time skips
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like it!

**Part 6**

"Move?" Naruto repeated numbly. "Move to where?"

Were they going to start the journey to Sasuke's family after all? He wouldn't be against it, but he could admit that he would miss this cave that had become his new home and he definitely would miss Tsunade and Kakashi.

"There's another cave network deeper into these woods," Sasuke said, grimacing when he stretched out his injured leg. "Hard to reach on human legs, so it will provide us better protection than this cave. We'll stay there until next spring arrives and then we'll leave."

"But why can't we stay here?" Naruto asked confused. "This cave has enough tunnels to confuse them. They attacked us in the meadow, not here."

"They've been in some of the tunnels," Sasuke replied darkly. "Their scent was faint, but I still caught it. They didn't find this cavern, but I'm not taking any chances. More might be send after us once they notice I disposed of them. Before that happens, we'll be gone."

Naruto swallowed, a foul taste coating his tongue at the realisation that those hunters had found their home. They really had been part of the ultimate elite.

"Do we – are we taking the stuff here with us?" he asked, resigned to saying goodbye to this cave.

Sure, it had just been a cave, but being here with Sasuke, living with him, it had felt even more like a home than his old shack had done. To now have to say goodbye to it, all because hunters decided to mess up their lives … It felt bitter.

"We can't take everything with us," Sasuke answered and stroked Naruto's cheek apologetically. "But we'll take as much with us as we can."

"Right, when do we leave?" Naruto gnawed on his lower lip, staring despondently at their nest.

It was stupid to get upset about something as simple as a nest, something that could easily be rebuild, but he liked _this_ nest. He liked the sense of familiarity, of home that clung to it. It smelt like the both of them combined and he would be sorry to say goodbye to at least part of it.

"In two days," Sasuke said thoughtfully. "I need to be at full strength before we make the trip as the other cavern isn't that close by."

His face softened when he took a good look at Naruto and he pulled him down with him in the nest, cradling the blond to his chest as if he was the injured one, and not the wolf. "I know you like it here, but we can't risk staying any longer," he murmured, pressing his nose against Naruto's temple and breathing in deeply. "I can't risk either you or our baby and I don't know how long the disappearance of those hunters will remain unnoticed."

"I understand," Naruto said, his voice muffled as his face was tucked into Sasuke's neck.

He understood, but – he just hated that they were forced to leave their home. Why couldn't everything just have stayed good like it had been all these months before?

* * *

The scent of blood was thick in the air, cloying, filling his nostrils with its sickly rusty smell, and he gagged, doubling over. Everywhere he looked, he saw nothing but red, red, red, pooling around him, sinking into the earth, decorating the trees, the leaves, the bushes, the sky …

And in front of him laid the hunter, his face unrecognisable, smashed to smithereens, one eyeball popped out of its socket, dangling down his cheek. Blood smeared fingers reached out to him, the dead man rising up slowly, bones cracking, blood streaming down like a river, splashing down on the ground.

Even more blood spilt when he opened his busted open mouth, gurgling, " _Y-you d-di-did t-this t-to m-me!"_

He stumbled back, horrified, sick to the core, shaking his head, because he couldn't have done this, he couldn't have killed that man, that wasn't him, he couldn't have done that, but then he looked down, down at his hands, his hands which were still clenching around a bloody rock, his skin slathered with blood as if it was an ointment and he started screaming, screaming until his throat grew hoarse, until his vocal chords were shot to hell, until he –

"Naruto! Naruto! Wake up!"

He shot up, heart beating like mad in his chest, his breathing loud in his ears, and looked around wildly, expecting to seen nothing but blood and a cracked open skull, bloodied hands reaching out to me.

But there was nothing but a dimmed cave, the fire in the hearth close to dying out, and Sasuke. Sasuke who was kneeling next to him, his hands clamped around his shoulders, claws pricking through his shirt; alarm and worry warring on that beautiful face of his.

"I – I – what – what happened?" Naruto questioned, trembling for some reason even though he was far from cold. Their baby was fussing almost violently inside of him, as if startled as well, and he barely remembered to place his hand on his stomach, stroking it in a futile attempt to calm his child down.

Eyeing him carefully, looking like he was expecting Naruto to lose consciousness at any second now, Sasuke answered slowly, "You were having a nightmare, I assume. I could smell the fear and the panic on you and your heart was going crazy."

"Oh." A nightmare. Right. Of course. That made sense. Of course the sky couldn't be drenched in blood. Of course dead men couldn't rise up to accuse him.

The memory of the man, the hunter _he_ had _killed_ , had him clenching his eyes shut, swallowing back the bile threatening to escape. His throat burned as if he'd swallowed acid instead and he pressed the back of his hand against his mouth, fearing he was going to throw up any moment now.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Sasuke asked softly, cupping Naruto's face, brushing his thumbs across his clammy skin.

"Just – I dreamt about – about him. The hunter. Who I – who I - " The words refused to leave his mouth and he bit down savagely on the inside of his cheek, hating himself for not even being able to say the words aloud.

He had killed someone and he couldn't even utter those words? What was wrong with him?

"I wish you didn't have to do that," Sasuke murmured and gently tilted his head up, forcing him to look at soft dark eyes. "You were protecting me and our cub, never forget that. They attacked us first, you defended us. You're nothing like them."

"I didn't – I didn't mean to kill him," Naruto said in a small voice; his fingers tightening around Sasuke's wrists. "I just – I wanted to stop him, I wanted to keep him from hurting you further and - " He took a shuddering breath, nausea swirling in the pit of his stomach.

"I know, I know, ssssh," Sasuke soothed him. "I know you only meant to stop him. This is not your fault, all right? Nothing that happened in that meadow was your fault. The hunters attacked _us_ first. They deserved what happened to them. You only did what your instincts told you to do: protect our family. Nobody can fault you for that."

It sounded so reasonable when Sasuke laid it out like that. It was true: all he had done was in response to the hunters attacking them. He'd only thrown that rock at that guy to make him stop and when he had seen him getting up again, instincts had taken over his body and he'd reacted before he was fully conscious of it. All he had been thinking about during that moment was that he needed to protect his family, that he needed to help Sasuke, or risk losing both his mate and their unborn cub, and he couldn't let that happen. He couldn't let them get away with hurting his family, with taking them away from him.

But now blood clung to his hands, he'd taken a life. Never once in his life had he thought he would be capable of murdering someone. But when those hunters had hurt Sasuke … Every last shred of reason had left him and he had just operated on instincts only.

Did that make him a bad person?

"You could never be a bad person, Naruto," Sasuke whispered, embracing him to his chest. He lowered the both of them back into the nest, Naruto's head cradled against his shoulder. "You did what you had to do, that's all. You protected our family; someone who does that can never be a bad person."

That was also true, no? He knew Kakashi was sometimes forced to take a life during his missions if they turned foul. Did that make him a bad person? He'd never considered the man to be bad; he was merely doing his job after all, protecting the village.

He had killed that hunter, yes, but he had only done so because he had wanted to protect Sasuke, terrified to lose his mate.

If Kakashi wasn't a bad person for killing someone for the sake of the village – then Naruto couldn't be a bad person for killing someone to protect the man he loved, right?

Sleep took a long time to find him again.

* * *

The kettle, the cups, the tealeaves and the small jars of jam were stuffed in one bag and would be carried by Naruto. Around half of the nest ended up in another bag with Naruto's blankets and pictures carefully stored on top.

The remainder of the nest and the bear rug would remain here, too big to be carried to their new home. Naruto was still sad about that, but contented himself with the knowledge that at least most of their belongings could be brought with them.

The most important part, though, was that they were both still alive to be able to move. It was a thought he clung to whenever his treacherous mind attempted to linger in the memory of what he had done. Yes, he felt awful for having killed someone – but he couldn't feel awful when that meant Sasuke was still with him, hadn't died underneath that onslaught of arrows.

He had killed someone to save his mate and he would just have to learn to live with that.

"Ready to go?" Sasuke inquired, already in his wolf form.

His injuries were fully healed to Naruto's relief and amazement. Sasuke had said he would be completely healed within a day, but given how severe his injuries had been Naruto had thought that he'd been too optimistic about his healing progress.

He had ended up being right instead, with not even a single scar left as evidence that he had been attacked. A wolf shifter's healing power really was something else.

As the other cave was rather deep into the woods at a place unapproachable on human feet, Naruto would sit on Sasuke's back for the journey, keeping a hold on both the bags so they wouldn't lose their belongings. They had got up early – so early that Naruto was still rubbing sleep out of his eyes – so that they could make the trip in one day instead of having to spend the night in the woods.

Naruto worried that making the trip in one day whilst carrying him and the luggage would be too much for Sasuke after recently healing, but the wolf shifter had assured him he would be fine and that he wasn't even feeling the aftereffects of healing anymore. Naruto had no choice but to trust him. Sasuke wouldn't lie to him, not when it could potentially put them both at risk, so if Sasuke said he could handle the trip, Naruto would trust him.

Naruto took one last look around the cavern; his gaze sliding over the remains of their nest, the burnt wood in the hearth, its cinders slowly dying out, smoke trailing like a thin rope into the opening above. His eyes rested upon the bear rug for a moment, the fur dull looking with no flames to illuminate it.

He looked at the crudely crafted table and chairs, brushing his fingers across the rough wooden edges, gazed at an oddly rusty coloured spot on the wall next to it; a smear Sasuke had never explained but which had one day just appeared on it.

One last look at the second home he had known and then he took a deep breath, inclining his head. "Yes, let's go."

Towards their new home.

* * *

Even though the chances of being followed without Sasuke knowing about it were small, Naruto was on edge throughout the entire journey, casting nervous glances around him, pricking his ears every time a branch creaked or a twig cracked.

They went deeper into the woods than they had ever done before. The trees were denser here, no naturally created paths presents anymore like in the rest of the forest. Naruto started to understand why Sasuke was so certain that no humans would be able to find them.

The underground was treacherous here, rocks and holes creating an uneven path. Sasuke ran across it with no issues, jumping over bushes he couldn't avoid, but Naruto was certain he would spend more time tripping and falling flat on his face if he tried to walk now. At the very least the difficulty of traversing this part of the woods would make any potential followers think twice.

"How did you find this new cave actually?" Naruto questioned when they took a small break to eat. They were near a small brook; insects buzzing above the water surface.

Sasuke shrugged, rolling his shoulders. "Back when I first arrived here, I spent some time scouting out the forest and found the cave during one of my explorations. I settled for the first one because that area was easier to navigate and humans didn't dare to come that close after I showed them what happened if they bothered me too long." His smile was humourless, edging on grim.

They continued their journey shortly afterwards, Naruto having to hunch every time a branch hung too low. The roofs of the trees entwined here more, dimming the sunlight trying to worm its way through the leaves. The animals here were still as lively as in the front part of the woods, however, so even though it was darker here, Naruto didn't feel particularly uncomfortable.

The remainder of the trip was spent looking around, taking in the various types of bushes and long swaying grass filling in the gaps between the towering trees. His baby was fussing mildly within him, rocked to sleep by Sasuke's swift running.

Evening was settling in by the time Sasuke slowed down considerably and Naruto looked up, confused by the change of pace. Were they taking a break to eat dinner?

The reason why he had slowed down became clear pretty quickly and Naruto uttered a noise of surprise, sliding down Sasuke's back. They had arrived at the cave; the opening half hidden behind low hanging branches. The rock looked almost an onyx black, blending in perfectly with the darkening surroundings. Only the last lingering sunrays made it possible for Naruto to actually see the opening. Once it was completely dark he wouldn't know where to even start.

"It should be big enough for the three of us," Sasuke grumbled, shaking out his fur. "It doesn't have a complicated cave system like our previous den, but it's not just a one way tunnel either."

"That's fine," Naruto said, grabbing one of the bags. "Does it have some sort of fireplace as well? It's not winter anymore, but I don't think I'll be able to see a lot in the cave."

He hadn't been able to see without a fire in their previous home, and given how dark the stone of this one looked like, he doubted he would fare much better here.

"Should be one," Sasuke confirmed and transformed into his human form, grabbing the other bag. "I don't think it's as big as the other one, but it should be enough to keep a fire lit at all times."

He grabbed Naruto's hand, leading him through the half hidden entrance. As expected, the deeper they went, the less Naruto could see and it was only Sasuke's hold on him that kept him from walking into any walls or stumbling over loose bits of rocks.

"Wait here for a moment," Sasuke told him, making him stand still.

His voice appeared to echo a bit, so Naruto thought it was safe to presume that they had arrived at the heart of the cave, their new home. With one sense cut off, his hearing seemed to have amplified and he could hear the rustling of the bag when Sasuke placed it down and went through it. The wolf shifter walked away then, somewhere across from Naruto, and something like blocks were placed down. Then a whisper and –

Naruto blinked rapidly when fire erupted all of a sudden, filling the cavern with its dancing flames. It was a small fire at first, but Sasuke adjusted the wooden blocks and the fire ate them greedily, growing bigger quickly.

"When did you have the time to chop wood?" Naruto asked surprised, lowering his own bag to the ground.

"I chopped some before we left," Sasuke replied, stretching his arms. "I wasn't sure exactly how late we would arrive and I didn't want to take any chances." He walked over to Naruto, cupping his stomach with both his hands and kissing him softly. "What do you think? Think you can feel at home here too?"

Naruto looked around, at the uneven walls coming together somewhere high above them; at the onyx black colour gleaming in the flames. The cavern was only a tad smaller than the previous one, but he didn't need a large cavern to be happy. He would have been more than happy with a small cave too as long as he had Sasuke with him.

Smiling, he wrapped his hands around Sasuke's neck and pecked his lips. "Yeah, definitely."

Black eyes glistened. "Well then, let's start preparing our new home."

* * *

"I'll be back soon," Sasuke promised the next morning, nuzzling his cheek. "Just shout if you need me, I'll hear you."

"Sure," Naruto nodded and watched him change into his wolf form before bounding into the bushes, disappearing from view.

They had just spent their first night at their new home and Sasuke had now left to catch some breakfast and lunch for them. Naruto had expected to have trouble sleeping in a new environment like he had experienced during the first few weeks after he'd been dropped off at the first cave. Surprisingly – or perhaps not so – he hadn't had any trouble whatsoever falling asleep. Having the majority of their nest still and Sasuke cradling him within his embrace definitely had helped him catch sleep and it had been as if they hadn't changed caves at all.

Obviously they wouldn't be permanently settling here, but he thought he would like the time they did stay here. The cave itself wasn't bad at all and the surroundings were very nice to look at it, with its blooming trees, the rose bushes coming to life, tiny violets dotting the ground and –

A blue haired woman gazing frankly at him from between two trees.

He froze and could only stare at her, at the way her short, blue hair glistened in the early morning sun, as if tiny diamonds were interwoven with the strands; at the light blue rose wrapped around the bun in her hair; her grey eyes intensified by the purple colour on her eyelids. She wore a deep blue dress which shimmered as if doused in water drops and a ring around her finger.

Who was she and how on earth had she managed to reach this place? Sasuke had said no human could come here on foot!

She took a step forwards, unnerving him when he realised her footsteps weren't making any sound at all. "When I felt the border being breached, I didn't expect to find someone like you," she murmured and her eyes trailed down to his stomach.

Instinctively he covered it with his hands, trying to shield it from her view, and she blinked slowly, raising her eyes up again.

"Not entirely human anymore, so what are you?" she asked, tilting her head to the left. "You're not alone here, are you?"

"My – my mate, he's left to find food," he stammered, growing more and more nervous the longer she kept standing there, studying him. "I'm sorry, I didn't know this place is yours."

"Clearly," she said dryly and took another step closer. "Why are you here? Who is your mate?"

He didn't want to answer her, not really, but she was giving off a strange vibe; not entirely hostile, but not entirely friendly either. Instinctively, however, he knew she wasn't one to mess with and she would retaliate if she perceived any insult.

"My – my mate is Sasuke and we – we had to move here after hunters found us," he answered haltingly, swallowing; hyper aware of how every few seconds her gaze flickered to his belly as if she could see how his baby was fussing fiercely. "Sasuke said we would be safe here."

Her eyebrows rose up a smidgen. "Hunters?" she murmured. "What did you do to incur the wrath of human hunters?"

"We - " He couldn't go on, unwilling to admit that the hunters had been sent after Sasuke because the village had grown too afraid.

"Because blood had been spilt in defence of my mate," Sasuke's voice grumbled out of the blue and Naruto whipped his head around, his mouth dropping open when Sasuke meandered out of the forest, freshly killed rabbits held in his hands.

The woman's grey eyes lit up as if in recognition and a faint smile graced her lips. "Wolf," she greeted him. "It has been a while since we last encountered each other."

Sasuke dipped his head at her. "It has been. My apologies for intruding upon your ground, but I needed a safe place for my mate and my cub."

"I understand. I was merely curious who had dared to trespass," she said and folded her hands together in front of her. "Are you planning on staying here indefinitely?"

He shook his head. "No, as soon as my mate has whelped and our cub has grown strong enough, we will depart for my home."

She nodded slowly, her gaze briefly landing on Naruto again. "Well, if it is you and your mate, I have no reason to cast you out. You will find safety here for the rest of your stay."

Sasuke inclined his head. "Thank you for your generosity, Rígan Konan."

She smiled and then in front of Naruto's astonished eyes her body started to glow and began to shrunk until she was so tiny she was nothing more than a glisten of gold in the air. One blink of the eyes and she was entirely gone, as if she had never been here in the first place.

"Who was that?" Naruto asked in a strangled voice, completely thrown off by how familiar Sasuke and the strange lady had acted with each other. "How do you know each other?"

How had she managed to disappear like that? What kind of being was she?

"She's the Queen of the Fae and the guardian of this forest," Sasuke answered frankly and walked over to him, dropping the dead rabbits on the ground. "I've met her before when I first entered these woods. I didn't know this cave belonged to her actual territory, however. I should have asked permission first." He looked chagrined with himself for having forgotten to do so.

All the blond could focus on, however, was the comment about her being the _Queen of the Fae_. "We trespassed on the Fae Queen's territory?" he squeaked, hands flying out to grab Sasuke's wrists. "Sasuke, what if she's mad about this?" he asked worriedly.

"She isn't, didn't you hear our entire conversation just now?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"She could be lying!"

"The Queen doesn't lie," Sasuke told him, pursing his lips together. "There is no need for her to do that. If she says she won't cast us out and that we're safe here, then that's exactly what she says. She has no reason to speak in riddles to me."

"Why not? What makes you so special?" Naruto demanded, narrowing his eyes slightly.

The wolf shifter huffed. "My brother's mate is Fae too. She could sense his presence on me the first time we met and decided that that meant I could be trusted."

"Oh." Naruto blinked, taken aback by that information. He knew not everyone in Sasuke's family were wolf shifters as the other man had mentioned knowing couples with human mates before, but he hadn't thought they would have a Fae in their midst as well.

He furrowed his eyebrows when Sasuke squeezed his hands, and when he looked at him he was greeted with a smirk. "What?" he asked warily.

"Were you jealous perhaps?" Sasuke teased; his black eyes glittering.

"I wasn't! Why would I be jealous?" Naruto instantly denied hotly. "There is nothing for me to be jealous about!"

"True," Sasuke mused, releasing his hand to cup Naruto's left cheek. "Because you know you're the only one for me."

His cheeks heating up with a heavy blush, Naruto pouted and glanced away. "You're an idiot," he muttered.

"Whatever you say, love," Sasuke smirked and tilted his head up by his chin, pressing a firm kiss on his mouth. "Let's go have breakfast."

* * *

They had been living at the new cave for around three weeks when Sasuke started to act a bit off.

It began when he'd returned from finding breakfast and was more silent than usual. It was true that Sasuke wasn't exactly the type to chatter senselessly, but the particular type of quietness surrounding him now unnerved Naruto, made him feel on edge and he worried.

Because whatever got Sasuke this quiet couldn't be anything good.

But this place was safe; Sasuke had reassured him of that and the Fae Queen had basically implied it as well. So if neither of them had lied, why was Sasuke acting so strangely then?

When Sasuke shifted into his wolf form during an early afternoon, preparing for another border run – "Nothing wrong with keeping an eye on the surroundings, just in case." – Naruto sat up in the nest, his hands cupping his rounded belly. At six months, the baby had become even more active and currently they were furiously pushing their hands out, pressing back against Naruto's fingers whenever he poked his belly gently.

"Is something wrong?" he asked bluntly after three days of having an oddly contemplative wolf mate next to him.

"Wrong? Why would something be wrong?" Sasuke asked surprised, turning his large head around.

When he was in his wolf form, he easily blended in with the dark stone of the cave. He had surprised Naruto several times already by making him think he was somewhere in the tunnels until he turned his head and blood red eyes would be staring back at him.

"I don't know," Naruto said slowly, his thumb rubbing circles around his bellybutton where the cub was currently kicking him. "You're acting somewhat strange. You're more quiet than usual."

Sasuke titled his head to the left slightly. "Just thinking about something," he answered after a pause.

"About something bad?" The blond furrowed his eyebrows.

"Depends on your definition of bad," Sasuke replied mysteriously and left before Naruto could open his mouth again.

Frowning, he stared at the gaping hole in the cavern, the only entrance and exit of the hollow room here. "Your father is acting off," he complained to his baby, poking the right side of his stomach petulantly.

He got a push back in response, which he chose to interpret as "Yes, father is being very strange."

Good to know he wasn't the only one suspicious about Sasuke's behaviour.

* * *

A firm kick against his bladder forced him right out of the doze he'd fallen into and he snorted awake, blinking rapidly. Another kick, stronger this time, had him grimacing and he sat up, rubbing his stomach.

"I'm awake, I'm awake," he muttered and pushed himself up, sitting on his knees before standing up.

He took a couple of seconds to find his balance again and then went into the tunnels, unable to ignore the call of nature any longer now that the baby was pressing firmly against it. As he went into the tunnel on his left, he wondered how late it was. Sasuke wasn't back yet, but that didn't tell him anything. Either Sasuke hadn't been gone for that long yet and he had just started dozing quickly or Sasuke was already gone for a while, in which case he wondered how much longer the wolf shifter would stay away.

There was a small creek running alongside the cave, nearly hidden behind a row of bushes and he used the cool, rushing water to wash his hands after he had finished his business. He splashed some water across his face, shivering when some of the cold drops slipped down, soaking the edge of his shirt.

The coldness of the water helped remove the last traces of sleep and as he rose up, he shook out his hands, getting rid of as much moisture as possible before drying his hands off on his trousers.

He turned around and stepped across the smallest bush, intent on going back into the cave and wait there for Sasuke to arrive when rustling noises had him shifting around in the direction of it.

Perking up at the sight of a large, dark haired wolf coming into view, he opened his mouth to greet his mate – until his gaze lowered, falling on something that Sasuke was dragging towards the cave.

No, not something, _someone._

Numbly he stood there, staring as Sasuke tugged and pulled at the body, mercilessly dragging it from underneath the thorny rose bushes. Could only watch as Sasuke spat the person's arm, panting slightly from the weight he'd been dragging along for who knew how long.

Could only stand there, frozen, as the person groaned and flopped weakly onto his back, revealing –

_Danzo's face._

"Sasuke? What's this?" Naruto asked in a small voice; heart beating erratically at the sight of the man who had condemned him to the fate of death, who had considered him to be less worth than the cattle roaming the fields, even less than the dirt underneath his shoes.

Danzo had always been a proud man, looking well put together even at his advanced age. There was nothing left of that arrogant pride, not with his shirt ripped to shreds in several places, bleeding gashes peeking through the holes. Not with the large cut on his forehead bleeding profusely, covering the left side of his face in blood.

Especially not with the way his right leg was bent in an uncomfortable angle, causing him unable to walk, let alone run away. All he could do was sit up slowly, his entire form trembling with the pain he no doubt was currently experiencing.

Even nearly ripped to shreds by a giant wolf, his gaze was colder than ice when his dark eyes landed on Naruto, a sneer twisting his mouth.

"He actually left you alive," Danzo said hollowly, his eyes burning with an unholy fire. His gaze shifted downwards then, landing on Naruto's belly, and his sneer widened, twisting his facial features even further. "And turned you into an even bigger freak than you already were, I see."

A paw shot out, slamming straight into his throat and Danzo choked, grabbling weakly at Sasuke's paw. The old man, weakened by age and his wounds, was no match for the powerful wolf however, and Sasuke bared his teeth, visibly putting more pressure onto Danzo's throat.

"You don't deserve to talk to him, let alone look at him!" Sasuke snarled; his eyes glowing an ominously red colour, dark red like the blood steadily dripping down Danzo's face.

"Sasuke, why – why is he here?" was all Naruto could think of to ask.

How had Sasuke managed to grab Danzo of all people? As long as he could remember, the older man had always been surrounded by at least two guards, never travelling alone. How could he be here alone then? In the middle of the day, no less!

"He's been on my list ever since you've confided in me," Sasuke said and his calm tone stood in sharp contrast with the manner he kept his sharp claws wrapped around Danzo's throat, getting dangerously close to cutting off his air supply.

"He was however also the one who was the best protected amongst the entire village," Sasuke continued and sneered. "So I bided my time, figuring I could take him last. Until he sent the hunters after us."

Leaning closer into Danzo's space, baring his large fangs, he grumbled threateningly, "Until a little birdie informed me he was intent on sending twice as many hunters into the woods. So I decided I was done waiting. I decided it's time he answers for everything he's done to you, from protecting that vile scum to treating you less than dirt. It's time he gets punished."

Naruto knew what Sasuke was going to do. He was going to kill Danzo, just like he had killed all those other people, like Mizuki, people who had hurt Naruto throughout all those years, people whose names he'd willingly given up to the wolf shifter several months ago. People he hadn't spared a second thought to, because he didn't even know in what ways most of them had suffered, preferring not to be told about them.

It had been enough to know that Sasuke was punishing them on his behalf, had been enough to have the knowledge that all those people had gone through the same hell they had often put him through.

He had never seen Sasuke kill one of them before, had smelt it on him at times, had been told about them, but hadn't actually witnessed it.

Now he was going to see it happening right in front of his eyes and there was nothing he could do about it, nothing he could say that would sway Sasuke into releasing the man he considered responsible for his mate's suffering, the man who had sent the hunters after Sasuke and in doing so, had put Naruto and their unborn cub in danger as well.

The worst part of it all? He couldn't even find it in him to stop this. Couldn't muster up even the slightest shred of sympathy to help the old man escape from the vengeful wolf's wrath.

Danzo had thrown him literally in front of the wolves, sparing no thought for his safety, content to let a boy die instead of a cow or a pig. He had sent hunters after Sasuke when he had figured out who was behind the attacks on the villagers, had nearly succeeded in having Sasuke killed.

And now he had apparently been planning to send twice as many hunters after Sasuke, twice as many people ready to maim, hurt and kill the man Naruto had come to love.

"You can't do anything to me!" Danzo spat, glaring at Sasuke. "You think the villagers will be content to see me killed? They'll be demanding vengeance the moment they know and what will you do then? They'll come after you and that nasty whore of you with his freak be-"

He choked, doubling over when Sasuke's fist slammed into his stomach.

"You really are not that smart at all, are you?" Sasuke asked calmly. "You think the village will cry for you? The man who ensured that scum could keep harming their children?"

He bent towards Danzo, who was coughing, one arm wrapped around his stomach. "That is, of course, if they even know you died. As far as they are aware, you left the village, done with the stench of death clinging to it and retreated elsewhere, leaving them behind like cattle waiting to be slaughtered."

"There is no way they will believe that," Danzo denied, spitting out blood. "As soon as they notice I'm missing, they will come for me!"

"As soon as they notice you're missing, hm?" Sasuke stepped away, considering him. "Do tell me: how do you think I got to you in the first place?"

Danzo stared at him, speechless for what had to be the first time in his life as he tried to comprehend what Sasuke was telling him. Sasuke in the meantime turned his head towards Naruto, and his blood red eyes softened just the tiniest bit.

"If you want to go back to our den, I won't mind. I just wanted to show you that he's not getting away with what he did to you."

Naruto wanted to accept that way out, the excuse of being able to pretend that nothing happened. If he went back to their nest now, he could pretend Sasuke wasn't going to kill Danzo in cold blood, could imagine that he wasn't the cause of someone else's death.

Something kept him rooted in place, however, kept him standing there instead of allowing him to retreat. He had done _this_ : he had given Sasuke all the names he needed to start his vengeance, had given him implicit permission to hunt them all down and kill them. He might not be the one doing the actual killing, but in a way, his hands were just as soaked in blood as Sasuke's were.

Sasuke was his mate, the father of his baby, one of the very few people who cared about him, who loved him for who he was. The only person willing to go to unimaginable lengths to take care of him, to show him what he was worth.

_The only person willing to kill for him._

The least he could do was stay and show that he deserved to be called the wolf's mate, that he deserved to stand next to Sasuke. He was a wolf's mate and it was time he embraced that reality fully.

So he shook his head and refused to budge, not even when Sasuke looked at him imploringly.

"I – I don't want to go back. Not yet," he said, licking his lips and balling his hands to fists.

"It's not going to be pretty," Sasuke warned him, slamming his claws down on Danzo's leg without even glancing at him when the man tried to crawl away.

The claws dug into Danzo's legs, embedding themselves within his skin and muscles, and the man screamed briefly before he bit down on his lip, glaring foully up at Sasuke.

"I know," Naruto said, releasing a shaky breath. "But you're doing this for me."

_The least I can do, is stay here._

Sasuke inclined his head and turned his attention back to Danzo, who froze at whatever he witnessed in those glowing, blood red eyes.

"You're lucky I don't want to upset my mate too much," Sasuke murmured, a snarl hidden within his gravelly voice.

He opened his jaw, revealing rows of glittering, white, sharp teeth and slammed Danzo down to the ground, keeping him immobile there with just one paw. In a flash he bent down and right before his teeth closed around Danzo's throat, Naruto closed his eyes and looked away, his nails digging into the vulnerable flesh of his palms.

He refused to move, however, and kept standing there, even when there was no way to ignore the dying gurgles of Danzo, no way to pretend he didn't hear the gory sound of teeth tearing into flesh, bones cracking and splintering underneath the force of the massive jaw.

All became silent then, the air filled with nothing else but the chirping and singing of the birds once more, insects buzzing loudly above the creek, squirrels, mice and other small animals racing through into the trees and underneath the bushes.

Slowly he opened his eyes, his mouth drying up at the sight of Danzo's lifeless body, surrounded in an ever growing pool of his own blood. And there, right next to his body, was his –

Arms – human limbs – wrapped around him, a strong hand pressing his face into an equally strong naked shoulder.

Lips tenderly brushed against the top of his head, a hand reaching down to cradle his stomach, in which their baby was only softly fussing around now. "It's over," Sasuke whispered, running his free hand across Naruto's back. "He can't hurt you any longer. It's over."

_It's over._

_It's over._

**It's over.**

The words reverberated in his mind, bouncing back and forth, and had him clinging onto Sasuke tightly, taking shuddering breaths and burying his face in the wolf's neck, inhaling his comforting scent.

It was over. After so many years of feeling useless, of being looked at like he was worthless again and again, after being treated less than dirt …

It was over.

_Finally._

* * *

"Who told you that?"

"Hm?" Sasuke opened one eye, his hand which until now had been lazily trailing up and down across Naruto's naked side stilling, resting on the side of his belly.

"That Danzo – that he was planning on sending hunters after you again," Naruto asked, pressing himself as closely to Sasuke as he could with his belly in the way.

"That man – Kakashi you call him? – told me that."

"You spoke to Kakashi?" His heart started thumping quicker, his eyes widening. When had that happened?

"Briefly," Sasuke replied, and opened both eyes now, giving him an apologetic look. "He couldn't stay long because people were waiting for him. He told me Danzo was planning on calling more hunters soon. I couldn't risk it. This place is safe, but I couldn't let hunters just traipse around in the forest. We're not the only ones living here." His forehead crinkled with a slight frown.

"So you went and grabbed Danzo to kill him," Naruto murmured.

"I went out and grabbed him to kill him, yes," Sasuke confirmed and kissed him softly. "I don't care how many humans I have to kill if that means keeping you and our cub safe."

It really did say something about him, Naruto mused, burying himself closer into Sasuke's embrace, that Sasuke's words didn't even disturb him anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: Rather darkish, but given the evens in this one, it couldn't be avoided. The next one (last one? Not sure yet) should be a lot lighter, though :)
> 
> Rígan = queen in Irish (correct me if I'm wrong).
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
> 
> I hope to see you all back in the next chapter! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	7. Part 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: I know this is shorter than the previous chapters, but after the long way - for which I apologise profusely - I wanted to give you something. Sorry again for taking so long with this, these last weeks have been rather shitty and tiring. I hope you won't mind the shorter length too much!
> 
> Thank you so much for your comments and your kudos! This story has already passed 600 kudos! Thank you so much for that!
> 
> Warnings: Small time skips; birth; start of a panic attack; implied breastfeeding
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like it!

**Part 7**

Even though he knew Sasuke would never lie to him, Naruto couldn't help but be uneasy the first couple of days after Danzo's death.

He expected some of Danzo's guards to show up suddenly, perhaps even another army of hunters to finish the job. Or the townsfolk themselves, wanting to know what had happened to the man who had been such a fixture in their community for years on end.

Nothing happened, however. No hunter showed up, nor did any guards or townsfolk. As the days bled into weeks without any other kind of danger popping up, Naruto finally relaxed, content in the knowledge that they were finally completely safe. No hunters who might try to harm Sasuke again, no people from Naruto's past who might try something.

They were safe at their new home, protected from any kind of human meddling by the Fae Queen herself. And though he knew this wouldn't be their permanent home, that somewhere next year they would start the journey to Sasuke's family, he was resolved to enjoy the remaining time they spent here, preparing for their cub's birth.

* * *

Sasuke had gone to catch their dinner and Naruto had settled down in front of the cave; his back supported by the cold stone wall. It was somewhere in June and the summer had started mercilessly with the sun beating down on him whenever he dared to set foot outside.

Fortunately here right against the cave there was still shade and the inherent coldness of the stone ensured that he didn't get too hot while waiting for Sasuke to return. He'd forgone his shirt for now, opting to just wear some short trousers, and as he sat there, he smiled every time his belly rippled whenever his baby nudged him with a foot or a fist.

He had entered his eight month, getting him closer and closer to the birth, and his belly had become rather large, leaving him unbalanced whenever he tried to get up. Sasuke was so graceful as to not laugh at him and instead just helped him up every time. Naruto didn't mind it so much; even after carrying his baby for nearly eight months already, he was still filled with awe every time he felt them move like it was the first time all over again.

He was running his hands over his distended belly, musing aloud where Sasuke could be right now, when he became aware of an odd high pitched noise. Frowning, he looked up, trying to locate the source. There were a couple of birds chirping high up in the trees, but their song came nowhere near close to the high pitched shrieking he was hearing. Another animal then? But what kind of animal could be making such a ruckus?

With a bit of trouble and some exasperating huffs, he got himself upright again and carefully approached into the direction from where the sound was originating. It came from somewhere within the tree line, near one of the rose bushes, he found out after standing still and listening attentively.

Becoming progressively more confused, he stepped close to the bush in question and bent down as much as his belly allowed him to, peering down onto the ground. There were a couple of dead leaves, some broken off twigs, a bee buzzing around one of the roses and –

Something small and glowing trapped underneath a dark spearhead.

Completely perplexed at this point, he reached down to remove the spear, wondering how it had got here of all places. It was broken off, some jagged piece of wood the only evidence that it had once been a whole spear, making it even more mysterious how it had ended up here, in a protected zone.

A shout escaped him and he stumbled back startled, dropping the spearhead, when the glowing thing on the ground suddenly expanded rapidly, growing taller and taller and he had to cover his eyes when the glow became too strong.

When he dared to peek through his fingers a little while later, he was astonished to see a red haired man standing in front of him, his eyes a deep, startling shade of green. He was dressed in a simple white shirt and brown trousers, but his feet were bare and oddly some golden coloured sand was swirling around his legs.

"Thank you for helping me," he spoke; his voice low and smooth. "I had no idea how else I could have got free if not for your assistance."

Naruto's mouth dropped open as he realised the man in front of him had been the same small glow he had seen on the ground just a minute before. If he was capable of altering his height – did that mean he was a Fae just like Konan, the Queen?

"Oh, erm, you're welcome. It is rather heavy," Naruto said once he'd found his voice back.

"The weight wasn't a problem," the Fae said and frowned. "It's the material that was causing problems. My people don't deal well with iron."

"I'm sorry, I don't know how this ended up here," Naruto apologised and bit down on his lip. It couldn't be from a hunter – Sasuke would have definitely noticed it if a human had come this close to their home.

"Probably picked up by one of the birds," the man sighed and placed his hands on his hips. "They like how shiny it looks but often forget how heavy it is at the same time. It was just bad luck that I happened to be down there when the bird dropped it."

"Are you hurt?" Naruto asked worriedly, even though he couldn't immediately spot any injury on the Fae man. Maybe they had the same healing progress as Sasuke did and healed quickly.

"Just some irritated skin, but nothing that won't heal soon," the man replied and his gaze briefly flicked down towards Naruto's stomach. "I presume you're Wolf's mate?"

"Ah? Oh, yes, I am," Naruto answered startled. "You know him?"

"The Queen informed us you two are under her protection and are not to be harmed," the Fae replied. "Given that this area is heavily guarded by my people, it's easy to guess who you are. My name is Gaara."

"I'm Naruto," he introduced himself and was surprised to see a faint smile appearing on Gaara's face.

"Well, Naruto, it is a pleasure to meet you. For now I have to leave, but I'm sure we will meet again." With a small bow, Gaara turned into a small glow again and disappeared from view, to wherever Fae went.

Sasuke arrived shortly afterwards in his wolf form, dragging the carcass of a deer with him. He opened his large jaw and let go of the animal, gazing up at Naruto. "What are you doing all the way here? You're going to get overheated," he scolded him gently and pressed his snout against Naruto's stomach.

"Oh sorry, it's just – I met another one of the Fae," Naruto said, still a bit in awe of the encounter. "He was stuck underneath a spearhead so I helped him out."

"I'm sure he appreciated that. He's lucky he got trapped near our cave," Sasuke said and pushed against his hip. "Now go, back to the cave before you faint from the heat."

"I'm not going to faint from the heat," Naruto protested, but nevertheless went back to the front of the cave, knowing that trying to win this argument with his overprotective mate would get him nowhere.

Besides, it _was_ getting a little too hot in the sun.

* * *

Unlike Konan, Gaara appeared a bit more willing to engage with them. There wasn't any sort of routine to his visits nor were they regular, but he would show up once in a while, just to talk with them, appearing especially interested in the human village Naruto had left behind.

Naruto didn't mind answering his questions, even though Sasuke tended to growl if the topic veered too closely to the not so fun times Naruto had spent there. It was nice talking to someone who wasn't his mate, his pseudo-father or someone he'd come to consider his grandmother. It didn't matter that Gaara technically wasn't human – Sasuke wasn't either. Naruto himself could arguably not really be considered fully human anymore either, he supposed, with the baby he was carrying and the Mark proudly displayed in his neck.

It didn't matter, though. He was perfectly happy with how his life had turned out, even when it might be considered unconventional in the eyes of other people.

* * *

As the summer continued, Naruto started fussing about their nest, deeming it not big enough all of a sudden, even though it was large enough to have the both of them lying comfortably in spite of his huge belly. Yet paradoxically it didn't feel large, even when he tried spreading out the accumulated furs even further.

Spreading the furs further out did make the nest larger, but the downside was that it took away most of the cushion that protected him from the hard floor. He wanted to sleep comfortably, so spreading out the furs was out of the question. He tried to ignore how small the nest felt like, even when he rationally knew that the nest was the same size as it had been before and he hadn't had any issues with it then.

But now he did have issues with it, did consider it too small, and it was driving him absolutely mad to the point that he woke up several times a night, plucking petulantly at the corners of some of the furs.

His annoyance must have been plain as day because after barely a week Sasuke arrived at the cave with several furs and blankets even; the mishmash of colours and the patterns stitched onto it undeniable proof that he had snuck them out of people's homes.

Upon meeting Naruto's astonished eyes, Sasuke shrugged and dropped the pile next to the nest. "You want to make the nest bigger, no? This can help you."

"How did you - "

Sasuke's teasing smirk sent blood rushing straight to his cheeks, setting them aflame. "You're getting closer to giving birth – it's natural that you want to adjust our nest."

Oh, so this was some kind of instinct then? It was good to hear that he wasn't going mad or behaving ridiculously about nothing at least.

He didn't ask the wolf for help nor did Sasuke step in. The dark haired man just stood to the side, watching Naruto fuss with the blankets, draping them in every corner and considering the angels, replacing them with others when he wasn't satisfied with the look of them.

When Naruto was finished, the nest had become double its size and one part had noticeably more furs and blankets piled together, creating a makeshift long pillow. The centre of it had become a lot softer as well, which had him sighing with satisfaction when he sank down on it.

"You're happy with how the nest feels like now?" Sasuke questioned when it became clear Naruto wouldn't start arranging again.

"Yeah, I'm happy," Naruto sighed contently. "What do you think? Do you like it?"

"As long as it feels good for you, I'm fine with it," Sasuke reassured him and joined him in the nest when Naruto made a grabbing movement.

_Yes,_ Naruto thought as he curled up against his mate, _this definitely feels a lot better._

* * *

His stomach cramping badly was what woke him up and he frowned, holding his breath automatically against the pain. When it subsided somewhat, he rose up and looked around. Even though it was still August and thus summer, there was a small fire burning away in the makeshift hearth, offering him some light.

Feeling a tad restless, he stood up and carefully stepped out of the nest, resting his hands on his stomach. His belly felt rather hard and tight somehow and he rubbed it carefully, his frown deepening as he started pacing back and forth in front of the small fire.

"Naruto?"

He turned around, watching how Sasuke sat up. He appeared fully alert, as if he had been awake for a while already.

"You okay?"

"I don't know," Naruto muttered and started pacing again. "My stomach was hurting just now, worse than before I went to sleep."

Last night he had suffered through some cramps, but they hadn't been anywhere near as bad as the cramp which had just woke him up. Maybe he shouldn't have eaten that extra piece of rabbit, but he'd been so hungry, he hadn't thought twice about accepting it when Sasuke had offered it to him.

"You've been having cramps for a while now actually. They're just growing in intensity now," Sasuke answered and that explained why he looked so wide awake. He must have been monitoring Naruto for the past couple of hours. He always seemed to know when Naruto was feeling in pain.

"Oh, why is that happening?" Should he be getting worried now? Sasuke, however, didn't look that concerned, so it couldn't be anything awful then. Otherwise the wolf shifter wouldn't sit so calmly still.

"I might be wrong, but I think you're going into labour today," Sasuke replied, watching him with sharp, intense eyes.

For a while Naruto could do nothing but stare at him as the words slowly registered. When they finally did, he looked down at his stomach in shock. "The baby's coming out today?" he squeaked startled.

Sure, Sasuke had told him a little while ago that it wouldn't be too long anymore before their baby would be born, but it really was happening now?

"Most likely," Sasuke confirmed. "Though I guess we can only be certain when your water - "

Right at that very second Naruto felt something warm and wet dripping down his legs, wetting his trousers, and when he stepped back startled, he saw a small puddle on the ground.

"-breaks," Sasuke finished blankly. "Guess our cub won't wait too much longer anymore."

"Guess not," Naruto said faintly.

For a brief moment panic rose its ugly head as he fully realised what was about to happen: he was going to give birth to their baby, their baby girl or boy, and he was going to be responsible for this little being; he was going to have to take care of it, be a good parent to it and how was he going to do that when he had never known his parents? When it had taken years for him to even experience a form of parental love? Would he even be able to handle the labour? Grandmother had always said that labour could be dangerous, that every birth could end up with complications no matter how well the pregnancy itself had been, and why had he thought he could handle this?

Warm hands cupping his cheeks tore him straight out of the spiral of panic he'd fallen in and he stared wide-eyed at Sasuke, who was regarding him with serious eyes.

"Listen to me, you're going to be fine," Sasuke told him intently. "Your body knows what to do, you just have to listen to it. I'll be with you the whole time, all right? Nothing bad will happen, I promise."

Naruto nodded and took a shuddering breath. There was still some panic swirling around in the pit of his belly, but he clung on to Sasuke's reassuring words, reminding himself that Sasuke had never lied to him before. If he said he was going to be fine, then he would be fine.

He just had to trust in Sasuke and in his body to know what it had to do.

* * *

The pain – contractions – slowly started building up over the course of the following hours. At first he only experienced a contraction every half hour, but as dawn broke, the time between each one grew shorter and shorter.

They were sometimes so bad that he could do nothing but stand still, bracing himself against the wall or Sasuke's shoulders as he breathed through the pain. The agony was worse than anything he had ever felt before, worse than the burns he had suffered when someone had pushed him too close to the bonfire five years ago. If he had to compare it to something, he would compare it to being cut with a knife over and over again with the knife being twisted around; his womb cramping violently as his body worked in getting their baby out.

The pain was so bad at times that he expected to see blood when he looked down, so certain his stomach was indeed being sliced open. All he did see, however, was his stomach rippling with the contractions and Sasuke's hand now covering his belly and then his back, rubbing him to bring some relief.

He didn't know what exactly prompted him, but after a long time of experiencing contraction after contraction, he suddenly felt it was time and he shuffled over towards their nest; still breathing heavily from the contraction which had just passed.

Sasuke was right there at his side, helping him lower himself down. At first he lied down on his back, the action almost automatic, but that position felt wrong instantly and he shook his head, sitting back up again.

"What do you need?" Sasuke asked, caressing blond locks, already damp with sweat, away from Naruto's forehead.

"I need to sit up, on my knees," Naruto answered through clenched teeth when another contraction swept over him and the urge to sit up and push was so pressing now that he used Sasuke's arms to haul himself up onto his knees.

His hands curling around Sasuke's shoulders now, he spread his legs further and he bent his head, gasping when the next contraction arrived, giving him no time to catch his bearings. Following instincts he didn't know he had, he inhaled sharply and bore down, using the contraction as a guide to push.

"God, this hurts," he groaned after he'd been pushing for god knew how long now; his hands resembling claws on Sasuke's shoulders. He was pretty sure his nails had actually dug bloody grooves in Sasuke's skin, but if so, the wolf shifter didn't mind.

"I know, but you're doing so well," Sasuke praised him, one of his hands descending on Naruto's belly, rubbing it carefully.

"How long still?" Naruto whimpered, bearing down again, feeling his baby slowly lowering down his birth channel.

He felt impossibly stretched there, his skin burning as if it was threatening to rip apart and he couldn't help but whine when the burn intensified; tears trickling down his overheated cheeks.

"Not too long anymore. Here, feel," Sasuke said suddenly and grabbed one of Naruto's hands, bringing it between his legs.

Naruto didn't know what he was supposed to feel at first, but then his fingers brushed against something distinctively hard and roundish and slimy and he gasped, realising he could feel his baby's head crowning.

"See, you're nearly there. Just a bit longer, you can do it. Only a bit longer and then we can hold our cub in our hands. You're being so strong now," Sasuke cooed, kissing his temple sweetly and rubbing his stomach soothingly. "Only a bit longer, you can do it, I know."

His baby's head slipping out had him gasping for air and birthing the rest of the tiny body had him groaning, silent tears dripping down, as he tried to bear down again and again, fighting against his exhausted body so he could bring his baby full into the world.

Then, suddenly, the rest of his baby slipped out of him, Sasuke quickly leaning forwards to grab the cub, and Naruto couldn't help but start crying heavier now, too overcome with the sudden empty sensation within him and the knowledge that his baby was finally born; his child's sharp cry joining his soon.

His sight had become so blurry he had trouble at first properly seeing his baby when Sasuke held their cub out to him; the umbilical cord neatly clipped in to by Sasuke's claws.

"Is our baby okay?" Naruto asked worriedly, automatically reaching out to accept the small being.

The first thing he noticed when his eyes finally focused enough was the tuft of black hair covering his baby's scalp and his deep blue eyes when the babe calmed down enough to open them.

"He's perfectly okay. Has all his fingers and toes," Sasuke chuckled and there was pride shining visibly through his eyes when he gazed down upon their son.

_Their son._

They had a little baby boy. Oh god.

"He's perfect," Naruto said thickly and with Sasuke's help, he inclined against a clean part of the nest, Sasuke making quick work of removing the ones filthy with all sorts of fluid.

Clutching his baby – his baby boy, oh god – against his chest, he silently marvelled at how beautiful he looked. For months he had tried to imagine how their baby would look like, but the reality was definitely beyond his wildest dreams. Who could ever have thought he and Sasuke would make something so amazing?

"How are you feeling?" Sasuke asked quietly when he entered their den again, coming to sit next to Naruto in the next. His face was soft when he reached out to carefully stroke their son's cheek.

The baby turned his head weakly towards him in response, smacking his lips.

"Tired and sore," Naruto admitted, thinking he wouldn't be able to move for hours after this. "But happy," he added with a smile, ignoring some of the tears still escaping him. "So happy, look at how perfect he is!"

"He is," Sasuke agreed and then kissed him tenderly. "And you are too. You've done it, love. You brought our cub into the world. You're so amazing."

Euphoria still coursing through his veins, for once, Naruto had no problems believing the complements Sasuke was bestowing upon him.

Yeah, he really had done an amazing job just now.

* * *

Hikaru was a happy baby and a big eater, Naruto was quick to find out. The Mark Sasuke had given him so many months ago had not only given him the ability to birth children, but had also turned him capable of feeding them, which while incredibly shocking at first, was also very reassuring, because he had been worrying how he would have to go about feeding their baby with no cows nearby to get milk from.

It had been rather strange at first, feeding their son in a natural way, seeing those pouty pink lips wrapped around one of his nipples. That strangeness had quickly made way for a sense of peace and now he enjoyed this special moment between them; a moment where everything in his world narrowed down to the little cub suckling on his chest, drinking milk.

Sasuke appeared to find peace in those moments as well, because he would often curl up around Naruto in his wolf form, letting his mate rest against his flank while their cub drank until he was full.

"Do you think Hikaru can shift into a wolf as well?" Naruto asked curiously, three weeks after Hikaru had been born.

It was something that had been on his mind for a little while now, resurfacing every time Hikaru woke them up with his sharp cries throughout the night. While Naruto might not be completely human anymore, neither was he a born wolf, not like Sasuke was, so what did that make of their son? Would he be a wolf regardless or would he be human like Naruto was?

"That's something we'll only find out once he's six months old," Sasuke replied, glancing at him briefly. Hikaru was on a bundle of fur in front of him, making grabby motions at his father's fingers. "A first transformation manifests itself around the six month mark."

"Oh, but how big is the chance of him being a wolf?"

"Hm, I'd say around sixty percent, maybe?" Sasuke shrugged, smiling when Hikaru's fist closed around his index finger. "My clan goes back centuries so the wolf gene is quite strong."

Worrying his lip between his teeth, Naruto asked tentatively, "Would you mind it if he turns out to not be a wolf?"

Sasuke clucked his tongue and flicked his nose before wrapping a hand around his neck and reeling him in for a kiss. "Don't be silly, of course I wouldn't mind. He's still our cub, wolf or not."

It was rather silly to worry about that, Naruto conceded, when Sasuke had been more than clear in the past that it wouldn't matter whether Naruto accepted the second Bite or not.

Still, the last bit of anxiety which had still lingered, had now completely evaporated.

* * *

Hikaru was just a month old when Naruto woke up one morning, confused by the unexpected bright glow in the cave. Sure, they had entered September, but wasn't it still a bit too early for Sasuke to make the fire that large?

When he opened his eyes, however, he saw the Fae Queen standing in the middle of their den, gazing at them quietly.

"Sasuke," Naruto whispered urgently, shaking Sasuke's shoulder.

The wolf shifter instantly awoke, all traces of sleepiness in his eyes swept away by alertness when his gaze landed on Konan.

"I didn't expect to see you here," he remarked and sat up, curling one arm around Naruto's waist.

Hikaru was asleep between the two of them, still completely tuckered out from the feeding he had done less than two hours ago.

"I did not mean to disturb you in your home," Konan spoke and folded her hands together in front of her. She wore a silver gown this time, which shimmered every time she moved.

"Is something the matter?" Naruto asked nervously, thinking it couldn't be a good thing if the Fae Queen herself was visiting their den.

After that one time he hadn't seen her again and he had assumed that would remain so, as she hadn't appeared interested in getting to know them better; not like Gaara had, at least.

"Not in the sense that something is wrong," she said.

"Then why the visit?" Sasuke quirked an eyebrow.

"To ask when you will be seeking to leave this place."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: Normally the next chapter will be the last (though I will be giving more information about the epilogue). I hope you liked it despite the shorter length!
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
> 
> I hope to see you all back in the last chapter! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	8. Part 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: So this was supposed to be the last chapter, but certain scenes I have planned, I can't find myself in the right mood to write because this was basically just another shit day to add to a long list of shit days, so yes, that means that this story will have one more part. I can't say whether it'll be as long as this one, but well, there it is. Hope you don't mind.
> 
> Thank you so much for the comments and the kudos! I'm so glad to see this story is close to 700 kudos already! :O
> 
> Warnings: Some angst; some fluff; and the long awaited meeting with the Uchiha
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like this part!

**Part 8**

Naruto could only stare at her, perplexed by the unexpected inquiry and admittedly a tad too cowed at her strong presence to react, but Sasuke had no such qualms.

He frowned at her, his mouth a thin line when he said, "Next spring as travelling now would be too dangerous. It'll take us several months to reach my home; I cannot risk leaving now with a new born cub while winter will be upon us soon."

"Yet remaining here without the presence of your pack is ill advised as well," Konan said calmly.

"I don't understand, I thought we were safe here?" Naruto piped up confused.

Why would it suddenly be a bad idea for them to stay here without Sasuke's family? Konan herself had stated they would be safe here under her protection! Was she kicking them out? Why now? Had they done something to offend her?

"Safe from harm, yes, but I cannot promise the same for nature's elements," she spoke cryptically.

Sasuke scowled. "This isn't the first harsh winter we've been through."

"No, but this will be the first one with a young child," she said and this time her voice sharpened just the slightest bit. "I do not think I will have to explain to you the importance of being surrounded by a pack during such harsh winters, Wolf."

"What does your family have to do with how we spend the winter? Will it be dangerous for Hikaru?" Naruto asked worriedly, glancing at the baby. He was still peaceful asleep, unaware of the extra presence in their den.

"Sasuke, why do we need your family?" he pressed on when it looked like Sasuke wouldn't give him an answer.

The wolf shifter released a huge, deep sigh, appearing reluctant to reply, though he did so anyways. "If the winter will be as harsh as the previous one, which it does smell like it will be, then it would be easier to have the pack around in order to help us out so that I wouldn't have to leave you and our cub alone to hunt or even just for warmth."

"Unlike my people, your child is still very sensitive to temperature changes," Konan took over; her eyes briefly dipping down to the sleeping baby between them. "Wolf cannot stay the entire time in the cave and you aren't capable of providing the same amount of warmth as he is as you are not the same as him."

Naruto looked down, worrying his lower lip between his teeth. It was true that as a wolf, Sasuke's body temperature ran a lot hotter than his; if this upcoming winter would be as brutal as the previous one, then his own body temperature and the fire in the hearth might not be enough to keep their baby comfortably warm. But what other choice did they have?

Like Sasuke had stated, they couldn't start their journey now because they would still be travelling in the midst of winter then. If Konan thought they wouldn't be able to handle the winter bundled up in their den, how did she expect them to survive the winter whilst travelling?

"I realise that, but as I said, the journey takes several months. We'd still be travelling when winter arrives and I can't take that risk," Sasuke said and for the first time he started to sound annoyed. "I do not think I would have to explain that to you either as you should know how far away my pack lives."

"It is true that it would take you three several months to reach your home," she agreed and the corners of her mouth twitched in a barely there smile. "Which is why I have a proposition for you."

"A proposition?" Sasuke repeated suspiciously.

"How much has your packmate, who is one of mine, told you about our abilities?"

Sasuke pursed his lips, a slight frown etched onto his forehead. "Not a lot," he admitted begrudgingly. "I know he has the ability to manipulate nature and that he can defend himself just fine," his mouth twitched as if wanting to smile before he grew sober again, "but not much else than that."

"I suppose he hasn't seen the need to tell you about this so far," she murmured and her eyes gained a faraway look for a moment as if she was thinking about something else. Then she shook her head slightly and focused her gaze on them again. "My people have the ability to manipulate time and space as well. It is not something we do frequently as it would mess too much with nature, but nevertheless it is something we can do."

"What are you suggesting?" Sasuke asked; his frown deepening.

"If you insist on remaining here, so be it, but I can offer you the opportunity to make the journey to your pack in less than a day if you so desire," she said, which only confused Naruto even more.

How could she make it so that their journey would take less than a day instead of several months? Surely that wasn't possible? Even for a Fae Queen, that seemed far too farfetched!

"And how would you go about doing that?" Sasuke questioned, narrowing his eyes.

"You're fortunate that you have a Fae in your pack; this will make it a lot easier to establish the connection," she said. "If I reach out to him, we can create a path so to speak for you three to walk on. You'll have to be accompanied by one of us to ensure safe travel and it will have to be done on the night of the full moon, but it is possible and it will bring you almost instantly to your home."

"And you would do that for us," Sasuke said slowly. "Why?"

She shrugged her shoulders lightly. "Perhaps I have grown fond of you, Wolf, and I do not wish to see you bury your child when the winter proves too much." Her eyes sharpened once more. "What will your answer be? The full moon will be within a week. I imagine that the sooner your child becomes acquainted with his new pack, the better for him as well so it would serve you well to leave at the earliest opportunity."

Her eyes turned shrewd for a brief moment as she regarded them intently. "I will be waiting outside for your answer," she said decisively and was gone before either one of them could react.

"What do you want to do?" Naruto asked, picking up Hikaru when he started to fuss; his cheeks reddening slightly. He pushed his shirt down, letting his baby latch on to his nipple.

Sasuke rubbed his hands over his face. "I don't know," he sighed.

"Would it better for Hikaru if we're with your family?" Naruto questioned tentatively, looking down at the baby hungrily drinking from his chest.

Sasuke hadn't mentioned anything about it being better if they were surrounded by his family, but maybe he hadn't wanted to worry him? He needed to know this sort of thing, though! If their baby would be better off being surrounded by family, why were they still remaining here then?

"Better … It would be easier," Sasuke admitted begrudgingly. "The sooner he can bond with them, the better overall, though it's not really a matter of life and death either."

"But it would still be better to be with them as soon as possible," Naruto surmised; his stomach performing several odd flips.

Sasuke brought his hand around his neck, bringing him closer to kiss him gently. "I can take care of us just fine," he stated firmly. "If you want to stay here until next spring, then we'll stay. We'll be fine."

"But the Queen said this winter would be a bad one again," Naruto said worriedly. "If she says it's better to leave then, - "

"I'm not going to lie, this winter will be just as bad as the previous one," Sasuke conceded. "But we got through it just fine and we'll do that again this time. If we start preparing on time like last year, we won't land in trouble, I promise. We don't have to leave yet if you don't want to. I'm sure she'll understand."

He looked away from his mate and gazed down at his baby, whose suckling was slowing down, his small hand curling and unfurling against his chest. A part of him wanted to stay here, wanted to have the chance to see Tsunade and Kakashi several times still before they would eventually leave when spring arrived.

But the other part of him thought about how long Sasuke hadn't seen his family, how the upcoming winter would be another harsh one, how they were no longer with just the two of them but with three now and they had their cub to think of when considering the upcoming winter. He thought about how better it would be for their cub to grow up surrounded by his pack and realised he couldn't be selfish now. He had his baby to consider, his mate, and he couldn't think of only himself now.

"No, it's better if we leave," he decided, a heavy feeling settling in his stomach. "It's better for Hikaru and you've been away from your family for too long. If the Queen can help us get to your family sooner, then we should accept that offer."

"You'd have to say goodbye to your humans," Sasuke said quietly. "I don't know if you'll ever be able to see them again after this week."

"I know," Naruto mumbled, the heavy sensation growing worse. "But – if being with your family is better for Hikaru, then we should go."

"Are you sure? You don't have to do this for me, I don't mind waiting until spring," Sasuke said; his eyes soft.

That was exactly why Naruto had to do this: because Sasuke had already done so much for him, sacrificed so much, that it was now _his_ turn to do something for Sasuke. They could never be equals if one of them always did more for the other one. He had already got more than he ever thought he would have when the village decided to sacrifice him; this time he needed to do something for Sasuke instead.

He took a deep breath and with a steady voice replied, "Yes, I'm sure. We shouldn't waste this opportunity."

Sasuke regarded him for a little while longer before he nodded and brushed the back of his hand against Naruto's cheek, kissing his lips gently. "I'll go inform her. Before we leave, you can say goodbye, I'll make sure of that."

Naruto nodded silently, the treacherous sting of hot tears having him blinking furiously and staring down at the nest, refusing to look up even when Sasuke left the cave. It was stupid to cry when it was his own decision to leave, but the thought of leaving Tsunade and Kakashi behind, of seeing them for what would most likely be the last time …

It hit him more than he had expected it would and he swallowed, a lump forming in his throat. He needed to move forwards, though; he was a parent now, had a baby to think of. His future was with Sasuke and his family, not this cave in the midst of the woods.

He knew all that and still the ache didn't lessen.

* * *

"Are you sure this is okay?" Naruto asked nervously, casting a wary look around.

They were at the gate of his old village, the day not entirely over yet. Farmers were returning from their fields with their carts and horses, not sparing the two men a look. Both Sasuke and Naruto were fully dressed, hoods on their cloaks casting shadows over their faces and keeping their identity hidden for the most part. Hikaru was fast asleep in a sling around Naruto's chest; his chubby cheek pressed against him and his little fist wrapped around the cloth.

"Of course it's okay," Sasuke reassured him and grasped his wrist, gently tugging him along. "We won't stick out and if there is trouble, we'll be gone before they can catch us."

"All right," Naruto muttered, reminding himself that Sasuke had never lied to him before. He was with a wolf shifter, anyways; harm couldn't really befall him. He would worry more about the people trying to start trouble.

They followed a family of four into the village and a strange feeling took hold of him as he walked through the familiar streets, saw the shops he used to walk past nearly every day. He jolted slightly when he saw Iruka, the main teacher of the local school, striding through the street; a frown on his face. Sasuke glanced at him, but he merely shook his head mutely and they kept walking.

It felt strange to be here during the day now. He'd been here once before after being sacrificed, last year, but that had been during the night and the cover of darkness had made everything look different somehow. Being back when it was still day … It felt odd.

"You all right?" Sasuke questioned softly, ignoring the curious look of an elderly woman.

"Yeah, yes, I'm fine," Naruto replied and if his voice was a tad wavery, at least the other man didn't remark on it.

His stomach churned with nerves as they turned around the corner and Tsunade's house came into view. Not many people were around at this hour and the few who were meandering about didn't pay them any attention.

Sasuke squeezed his hand gently as they reached the door and after giving him a reassuring look, he raised his hand and knocked on the wood. Just a couple of seconds later the door already opened, revealing Tsunade, whose apprehensive look softened instantly at the sight of them.

"Come on in," she urged them.

Kakashi was here as well, seated next to the fireplace; a bandage wrapped around his left hand, but otherwise looking completely fine. His dark eyes lit up at the sight of them and a faint smile graced his face as he sat up straight.

She moved to hug him, but he took a step back, shaking his head. Before she could become hurt at his refusal, he opened his cloak, revealing Hikaru who, surprisingly in spite of the noises in the village, was still fast asleep; his face pressed against Naruto's chest.

Both Kakashi and Tsunade stared at him, their gazes flicking from the baby to Naruto and Sasuke and back; her mouth opening wordlessly.

"This is Hikaru, our son," Naruto declared boldly, not wanting to hide or lie about his son's existence. He loved his son and he loved Tsunade and Kakashi and he saw no reason to keep his baby's existence from them.

If they questioned how such a thing was possible, him having his own son, then they chose not to voice those questions, choosing instead to incline their heads and smile.

"He's beautiful," she murmured, reaching out her hand with a questioning look. Upon gaining a nod of permission, she carefully brushed the unruly black hair away from Hikaru's face, her smile widening as he got a better look at him.

"How old is he?" Kakashi questioned, coming to stand next to her. He didn't make a move to touch the baby, but his eyes were warm and soft when he looked at him.

"One month," Naruto smiled. Next to him Sasuke remained quiet, observing the two adults.

She caressed Hikaru's cheek one more time before she withdrew her hand and sighed quietly; a knowing, sad look flitting across her face. "You're not just here to show him to us, are you?" she questioned quietly and Kakashi stiffened, his face darkening just a tad.

"No, I'm not." Naruto swallowed, the heavy feeling in his gut returning at once, no longer tempered by the joy of seeing his family again.

"I'll give you three a moment," Sasuke murmured and took Hikaru in his arms, slipping silently in the kitchen like a shadow.

The second the door closed, leaving Naruto alone with Tsunade and Kakashi, he sighed and his shoulders slumped; the bad news he had come to bear like a physical weight on his shoulders.

"Sasuke, Hikaru and I – we'll be leaving at the end of the week," he announced, fiddling with the edge of his sleeve. "We can't stay any longer anymore, I'm sorry."

"I thought you would leave once spring arrived again," Tsunade said, frowning slightly.

"That was the plan, yes," he said and licked his lips. "But this winter will be another harsh one and Hikaru – the sooner he can get to know Sasuke's family, the better. He needs the pa-the family around him."

"But if you leave now, wouldn't you still be travelling when winter hits the country?" Kakashi pointed out; his eyebrows drawn together. He crossed his arms; his mouth pressed in a thin line. "That was why you had decided to wait until spring, no? Because it will take months to get there."

"We've found a way to get there quickly, but it's not something we can use often," Naruto admitted, unwilling to give away how exactly they would get to Sasuke's family.

It wasn't as if he'd been explicitly forbidden to talk about the fae, but he thought Konan wouldn't be appreciative if humans tried to enter her domain. She tolerated Sasuke and Naruto, but Sasuke was a wolf shifter and Naruto was his mate; the blond doubted she would be just as friendly to unknown humans trying to breach her territory.

"So when you leave, that's it," Tsunade said slowly; her frown deepening even more. "We won't – we won't see each other anymore."

"No, once we leave, we can't come back," he answered quietly and blinked rapidly in an attempt to halt the stinging sensation of hot tears threatening to spill over.

Ever since Sasuke had told him that once they left, that would be it, they would never come back again, he'd walked around with the knowledge like a heavy stone in the back of his mind. Back then it had been easy to push aside, to not think about it, because of course it would be still a long time before they had to leave. When he'd ended up pregnant, he hadn't realised that the opportunity to leave would end up arriving barely a month after he'd given birth.

What could they do, though? It was too risky to stay here when the winter would be just as harsh as the previous one. Last winter they'd still only been with two, their baby having been merely a speck in his belly back then, but now they were with three and Hikaru was still too young, too vulnerable to take the risk. Especially when he wouldn't be able to shift – if he could shift that was – until he was at least six months old.

He didn't want to leave, not yet, but if they didn't leave now, when would they? Saying goodbye to Tsunade and Kakashi would always be difficult, no matter when it would happen. And now he had his son to think of and his mate, who hadn't seen his family in more than a year now.

This wasn't the time to be selfish, not even when the thought of leaving his first family behind ached so much. He had known that risk when he had agreed to become Sasuke's mate and he had accepted that, but still, standing here now, having to say goodbye … It was a lot more difficult than he had thought it would be.

"I knew this day was coming, but …" Tsunade trailed off, a shuddering breath leaving her as her eyes visibly started to shine with unshed tears.

She pulled him in her arms then, hugging him tightly to the point of nearly being painful, but he hugged her back just as tightly; the realisation that this was the last time making him clench his eyes shut.

"I'm going to miss you," he choked out, feeling a trembling hand caressing his hair.

"I'm going to miss you as well, so much," she whispered and kissed his forehead. "But if you ever can return, I'll be here. Always."

She stepped back then, albeit reluctantly, allowing Kakashi to take her place. There was no hesitation when the older man reached out and embraced him; one hand cupping Naruto's head, his arm wrapped around the younger man's back.

"Are you happy with him?" Kakashi asked and he had to know that Sasuke could hear them, that a closed door didn't mean anything to a wolf shifter.

"Yes, I'm happy with him," Naruto reassured him, resting his head against his shoulder. "I love him."

Kakashi nodded. "Then that's all that matters: you being happy. His family lives near the mountains?"

"Yes, though I don't know how far away they are," Naruto confirmed, a bit confused. Why would Kakashi want to know that.

"Then this is just a temporary goodbye," Kakashi said confidently. "Keep your eyes on the horizon and one day we'll see each other again, I promise."

Naruto merely nodded, tightening the embrace. It would be nice if they could see each other again in the future, but he would only focus on this moment now. There was no sense in harbouring hope for something that might never happen.

* * *

"I'm sorry you had to say goodbye," Sasuke whispered that evening, when they were curled up in the nest, Hikaru cradled in Naruto's arms.

"I knew that day would come eventually," Naruto muttered. "I'm just glad I had the chance to say goodbye."

It was better than nothing after all, even when he was still closer to crying than laughing.

* * *

The day of their departure was spent in a daze as they went around the cave, collecting their belongings for the second time in less than a year.

It felt strange, putting everything in bags again, knowing that this was the last time he would ever be in this place. Tomorrow or maybe the day after – the Fae Queen had been annoyingly cryptic about how long it would actually take to travel there – he would be in the mountains, meeting Sasuke's family for the very first time and that thought on its own, the idea of meeting his parents-in-law and his brother-in-law, was enough to send his mind spinning and his stomach flipping.

Sasuke had reassured him time and time again that everything would be fine, that his parents would love Naruto, but what if he was wrong? What if when they finally showed up, Sasuke's parents would instantly dislike him because he wasn't a wolf shifter? Or because he was a man instead of a woman, even though the Mating Bite meant that at least in the regard of offspring they wouldn't have to worry about that.

What if he did something dumb or said something horribly offensive and they would start hating them? In all those years he'd lived in the village, only Tsunade and Kakashi had actually liked him. The rest of them had either ignored his existence or had gone out of their way to make his life actively miserable. Who could be sure that this wouldn't be the case with Sasuke's family as well?

What was he going to do if they didn't approve of him?

His arse being pinched had him jumping three feet in the air and he whirled around, glaring at Sasuke. "Why did you do that!"

"I can basically smell that you're being stupid," Sasuke stated bluntly. He'd just finished putting the last part of their nest away and had Hikaru cradled in a sling across his chest. "What are you worrying about now?"

Naruto pursed his lips, unwilling to admit his concerns, knowing full well he was being idiotic, but unable to do something about it.

Comprehension lit up black eyes and Sasuke huffed, the sound a mixture of amusement and weariness, and shook his head. "You really need to stop worrying about how my family will react. I've told you before, they're going to be happy I found you."

"I know, but I just – I don't want to say or do anything that'll make them hate me," Naruto admitted in a small voice, wrapping his arms around himself.

"You won't," Sasuke assured him and trailed his hand down Naruto's arm before lowering his head to kiss him. "My brother's mate managed to set my parents' den accidentally on fire the first time he met them, so nervous was he, and they don't hold that against him."

"How did he do that?" Naruto asked baffled.

The other man shrugged. "One of his strongest affinities is fire and when he gets a bit too emotional, he risks setting things on fire. So if my parents can look past him burning their den almost to the ground, there's nothing you can do that is worse."

Well, it was true that he didn't have the ability to set something on fire, but still, that didn't automatically mean they would accept him!

"Look, I promise you'll be fine. When have I ever lied to you?" Sasuke regarded him intently; his black eyes almost glowing unearthly in the small flames of the fireplace.

"Never," Naruto conceded, sucking his lower lip between his lips.

"Exactly." Sasuke pulled his lip free, pressing a soft kiss on his mouth. "So trust me on this."

"Yes, all right," Naruto muttered, kissing him back.

It wasn't as if he had much choice anyway.

* * *

By the time they had finished moving everything outside and the last embers of the fire were dying out, night had fallen and the sun had made way for the full moon.

The silver white globe hang high up in the sky, illuminating everything with its silvery rays. The forest bathing in its light made for a magical sight and Naruto couldn't help but stare in awe at the trees, wondering if full moons were always this magical or maybe this place was just extra special because the Fae explicitly held reign here.

Something glistened in the corner of his eye and when he turned to look he spotted two glowing spots flying to them at a sedate pace. When they were less than three feet away, the spots expanded and rapidly took the familiar forms of Konan and Gaara. Their skin glowed faintly as if a light shone from within them.

"You ready to start your journey?" Konan asked and even as the question was leaving her lips, something started to materialise in her right hand.

It ended up being a long staff of sorts, which held one single large milky white stone at the top. Intricate, unknown signs were carved out in the wood and the staff looked weathered and old, obviously having been used for a very long time already.

"Yes, we are," Sasuke replied, rising up on his paws.

Just like when they had made the journey to this cave, Sasuke was back in his wolf form, carrying most of their belongings over his back. Naruto had two bags slung over his shoulder and had Hikaru in his arms. The baby was looking around with wide eyes, quiet but alert.

"Good, Gaara will be accompanying you on your journey," she announced and the red haired Fae in question inclined his head. "In a moment I will be opening the pathway which will lead you to your home. Whatever you happen to see or hear whilst on your way there, do not leave the path. Not even to take a quick look around."

"What happens if we do?" Naruto frowned.

"You'll find out where nightmares come from," Gaara answered without any infliction.

Naruto couldn't figure out whether he was serious or not, but Konan's face revealed that she at least wasn't joking about her warning.

"Keep following Gaara and you'll be fine," she stated. "Do not lose sight of him."

With that last ominous warning, she turned around and began tracing her staff through the air, drawing a square before looping the staff around. As she moved her staff quicker and quicker, the motions becoming nothing but a blur, reddish purple lines manifested in the air, whirling around until they bumped into each other and froze.

Konan was muttering things underneath her breath now, words spoken in a language Naruto had never heard before, the sounds all guttural yet somehow airy at the same time. They made him feel uneasy for some reason, goose bumps rippling through his skin as he stared at her frozen form.

Then, all of a sudden, she lowered her staff and stepped aside. Naruto blinked, completely confused now, because in front of him a door seemingly had appeared. The open doorway led straight to a sandy path, the occasional cobblestone peeking through the dust. On each side only darkness was visible, as if the path was the only thing that existed.

"Have a safe journey," she said and was gone before either one of them could say something.

"Come on, before the gate closes," Gaara said and walked straight onto the path with no hesitation.

Naruto couldn't help but eye the path doubtfully; his unease growing at how dark the rest of the surroundings looked like, but Sasuke huffed softly, pressing his snout against his leg, and the blond relented, following the Fae onto the mysterious path.

The air was filled with a mysterious humming sound, he quickly discovered, interspersed with the occasional animal like shriek or cry. Sometimes, somewhere in the distance, light would flare up as if someone was lightening a candle. Other times he could swear that he saw something moving in the corner of his eye, something with spindly arms – more than two, maybe three or four or five even – before it scurried off, blending in with the shadows.

Once, one of those strange beings started to claw its way onto the path, startling Naruto, but Gaara simply stamped his foot once and the being retreated with a disappointed hiss, slithering back to wherever it had come from.

"Wh-what was that?" Naruto questioned, unable to hide the tremor in his voice. The hairs in his neck rose with how intense and uneasy the atmosphere felt like. He thought he could feel hundreds of eyes pricking into the back of his skull, the strange beings awaiting their moment to strike.

Gaara tilted his head to the left, but didn't turn around. "Something from the Shadow World. I was not jesting when I told you this is where nightmares originate. This pathway cuts straight through the Shadow World and its inhabitants are always eager to try to hitch a ride. A word of advice: don't even talk about them. Don't ask questions. The more attention you give them, be it directly or indirectly, the more powerful they become."

"Is this why you have to accompany us?" Naruto asked. "Because you can keep the – the path safe for us?" He caught himself just in time, not wanting to give those strange creatures more power.

"Yes, as the pathway was created by a Fae, only a Fae can keep the path safe." This time he turned his head and smiled faintly at Naruto. "You don't have to worry, however. As long as you just follow me, you'll be safe. This is not my first time traversing the path."

In spite of the threatening auras surrounding them, Gaara's words put him at ease.

* * *

He had no idea how long they had been walking. Time seemed to have no meaning in this place, leaving even his internal clock useless.

They could have been walking for an hour, five hours or even a day; he had no idea. He just kept following Gaara, Sasuke right behind him, and ignored the many crawling and flitting creatures in the shadows, even when their thin arms or razor sharp claws made an attempt to reach the path. Every time Gaara simply slammed his foot down without even glancing around, and that was enough to keep the beings at bay, even when their frustration was palpable in the air.

Hikaru had fallen asleep a while ago, for which Naruto was grateful. The strange shadow beings had obviously made his baby uneasy, even at his very young age aware that those beings meant them harm, but the brave little boy he was, he hadn't once cried out, but instead had chosen to clutch Naruto's shirt in his chubby hands until exhaustion had taken over. Now he was blissfully asleep, which helped calm down Naruto's nerves partly.

He didn't pay attention to it at first, having become used by now to ignoring every strange flicker of light or glow, but after a while, it became hard to not notice it when Gaara was leading them straight to it.

A bright golden circle was right in front of them; tiny flames waving around in non-existing wind, eating away at the eternal darkness. The circle appeared to burn a literal hole in the fabric of his place, keeping the shadow beings at bay.

"Still fond of bright colours, I see," Gaara muttered and he sounded almost fond.

Before Naruto could ask him about it, they were suddenly in front of the circle and the Fae walked right through it, unbothered by the flames licking at his hair. Naruto wasn't so confident and whilst he followed right after Gaara, he ducked slightly, unwilling to find out whether those flames could hurt him or not.

He landed right in front of a forest, a winding path cutting the place in two. Behind him Sasuke huffed; the sound pleased and happy.

Gaara gestured towards the open space in front of the forest; his left hand resting on the circle. "You've arrived safely. I wish you well and bid you goodbye." He inclined his head and had slipped through the circle again before Naruto could open his mouth.

As Naruto watched wide-eyed, the circle rapidly shrank until nothing was left of the burning flames. One blink and then the gateway was completely gone and he was left staring at a berry bush.

"Is this – are we close to your family now?" he asked uncertainly; glancing around. Would they have to make another trip through the woods?

"Very close," Sasuke confirmed and there was definitely excitement building in his eyes as he rolled his shoulders, careful not to drop their belongings. "It's only a short walk from here and then we'll be at the gate to our home."

Naruto swallowed, his belly filled with an odd mixture of excitement – from hearing Sasuke refer to this place as _their_ home – and nerves as he realised that it wouldn't be much longer anymore until he would finally meet Sasuke's family.

_God, let me not do something stupid in front of them!_

* * *

Some sheep were grazing in a field, not even looking up when they walked past, as if they were used to people – and wolves – close to them, even though Naruto hadn't encountered another human being since they had arrived here.

"Is it only your family here?" he inquired curiously.

He doubted wolf shifters would settle close to human villages, but the presence of sheep threw him off a bit. Unless they were wild sheep? But then who sheared their wool?

"Yes, we're the only ones living here," Sasuke confirmed, trotting lightly next to him. "The closest human settlement is around two weeks away from here."

"Oh." Naruto blinked, taking off guard by the offhanded comment. Just how many kilometres had Sasuke travelled to reach Naruto's former village? He must have been doing it in his wolf form, because Naruto couldn't imagine him making the entire trek in just his human form.

No wonder he had said it would take months to reach this place!

He noticed Sasuke perking up before he even saw the gates looming in the distance and his heart started beating quicker as he realised that these must be the gates to Sasuke's home. Tightening his hold around Hikaru – who by this time was wide awake even though they had stopped earlier to have him eat – he tried to ignore the weakness settling in his legs and forced himself to keep walking, reminding himself to trust in Sasuke's words.

Sasuke had never lied to him before and if he said his family would like Naruto, then he just had to believe that. After all Sasuke knew his family the best, even after not having seen them in a while, and he just needed to focus on not doing anything stupid or embarrassing when he finally met them.

They were less than ten feet separated from the gates when a blond man suddenly materialised in front of them, showing up out of thin air. He had long blond hair which was tied into a high ponytail and wore a deep blue tunic; a leather belt cinching the waist. Resting his hands on his hips, his cobalt blue eyes studied them carefully, his gaze switching from Sasuke to Naruto and Hikaru before looking at Sasuke again.

A wide grin split across his face then and he laughed; the sound merry and light. "Good to know you didn't get yourself killed, un," he said amused. His eyes flicked back to Naruto. "And I'm glad to see that your quest has been fruitful. We've been awaiting you."

Even in wolf form, Sasuke had no problems rolling his eyes. "Thank you for the vote of confidence. Naruto, this is Deidara, my brother-in-law. Deidara, this is Naruto, my mate, and Hikaru, our son."

Deidara – the _Fae_ – drifted closer, curiosity setting those blue eyes alight as he studied Hikaru more intently. "He doesn't look that old yet, un."

"No, he's – he's one month old," Naruto answered, clearing his throat.

Just like Konan and Gaara, it was unreal how beautiful Deidara looked and Naruto had no problems seeing how Sasuke's brother could have fallen for him. It made him feel a bit self-conscious about his own looks and his less than lean form and he couldn't help but hunch his shoulders a bit.

Deidara hummed and stepped back. "Well, he looks very cute, though I didn't expect anything else with the looks of you two, un," he said teasingly, smirking when Sasuke growled. His smirk softened then and he threw his head back, gesturing at the gates. "Come on, your parents and Itachi have been waiting anxiously ever since I got the Queen's message that you would be arriving."

"He better has not messed up our den," Sasuke muttered irritated.

"He was too anxious to hang up garlands, un," Deidara snickered and went in front of them, as if he was acting as their personal welcome committee.

"The gods have had some mercy then at least," Sasuke mumbled, flicking his tail when Deidara chuckled.

They were barely through the gates when a large, dark haired wolf ran towards them and before Naruto could react, the wolf transformed, changing into a young, dark haired man with half long hair.

A man who was completely naked, which had Naruto squeaking in surprise and whirling around.

"Why are you naked?!" he cried out, but even as the words left his mouth, he knew it was a dumb question to ask.

Sasuke had never made a secret about the fact that he was more than comfortable walking around naked in human form, so really, should Naruto have expected anything else from his family? If most of them were wolf shifters, then it was most likely normal for them to just walk around naked.

He knew all that, yet couldn't help but blush at the thought of the naked man behind him.

"My apologies," the man spoke, his voice soothing and smooth. "I should have changed before I came to greet you, but when I smelt my younger brother, I became too impatient."

"That's clear, all right," Sasuke snorted and the noise of bones cracking and twisting informed Naruto that his mate had changed into his human form as well.

Their bags dropped to the ground with a dull _'thud'_ and Sasuke stretched his arms with a low groan, cracking his neck in the process.

"I really do still hate it when you do that, un," Deidara informed him calmly. "Naruto-kun, you can look again. I gave my idiotic mate something to cover himself up with."

"I'm sorry," Naruto said embarrassedly, turning around again with flaming cheeks. "I know I shouldn't have reacted like that, but you took me by surprise."

"Pretty sure that's what mother thought when she ended up expecting you," Sasuke smirked and the other man growled, swiping at Sasuke's face before he drew him in a tight hug.

"I missed you," the man muttered and Sasuke's face visibly softened and he hugged his brother back.

"I missed you too." He looked at Naruto then and smiled. "Naruto, this is Itachi, my brother. Itachi-nii-san, this is Naruto, my mate, and Hikaru, our son."

"What's all the ruckus here?" a female voice piped up and when Naruto looked to his right, he saw a dark haired woman approaching them, a simple light yellow dress keeping her covered.

Right behind her, another man followed; he had a stern face and silver strands streaked through his hair, but his eyes were soft when they landed on Sasuke.

"Mother, father, I'm back," Sasuke announced, smiling. "With my mate, Naruto, and our cub, Hikaru. Naruto, this is my mother, Mikoto, and my father, Fugaku."

Mikoto's face lit up and she rushed the remaining distance between them, briefly pulling her youngest son in a hug, nuzzling his cheek, before she surprised Naruto by drawing him in a warm hug as well, kissing his cheek.

"I'm so happy to finally meet you," she smiled; her eyes glittering. "And look how adorable my grandson is!" She gasped, cupping her own face for a moment before she carefully stroked her finger against Hikaru's cheek.

The baby mewled in response, blinking back at her, which only made her coo in adoration and beckon her husband to come closer.

"Look, Fugaku, how perfect our grandson is! He looks even more adorable than Sasuke did!"

"A feat we didn't think was possible," Itachi smirked, not even flinching when Sasuke punched his arm.

"It's nice to meet you, Naruto-kun," Fugaku smiled, coming closer as well to touch Hikaru's cheek. "And it's nice to meet you too, Hikaru-kun."

The baby grinned, not comprehending what was happening, but liking the attention all the same.

As he watched Sasuke being drawn into one hug after the next by other family members eager to welcome them, as he looked on how cheeks were rubbed and hairs were ruffled before the others would approach him in a more sedate, but still warm manner welcoming him, Naruto decided he really had made the right choice to come here now instead of waiting another six months.

Because it was very clear how much Sasuke had missed his family and vice versa. The sight of him lightening up, his smile more carefree than Naruto had seen it in months, made everything – even the pain of leaving his own small family behind – worthwhile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: So yes, more Uchiha bonding in the next chapter. I'll try to have that one out soon, because I know this story has been through some delays already *winces*
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
> 
> I hope to see you all back in the last chapter (definitely the last one now)! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


	9. Part 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: First of all, my apologies that it took me this long to finish this part. I had some trouble figuring out which scenes I still wanted to put in it and I hope the ones I chose won't disappoint!
> 
> That said, I'm really grateful for all your support for this story. When I first posted this, I hadn't expected to get such an overwhelming response, so thank you very much! Thank you for putting up with the delays and thank you for the lovely reviews you left behind each time! Even though life has been rather shit for a while now, your reviews made my day each and every time.
> 
> STAY TUNED AT THE END FOR MORE INFORMATION REGARDING THE EXTENSION OF THIS UNIVERSE
> 
> Thank you for all your amazing comments and kudos! I honestly still can't believe that this story managed to amass more than 700 kudos!
> 
> Warnings: Time skips; fluff; short bout of insecurity; mature content; references to past violence
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like this last part!

**Part 9**

"What do you think? Mother said we can choose another one if you rather stay elsewhere," Sasuke said and for the first time Naruto detected some nerves in his voice.

"This is your den, right?" Naruto asked for confirmation, looking around curiously.

The den in question was created out of towering pieces of wood, which met each other in the middle above them, creating some sort of large tent. The opening which acted as the door opening was merely covered with a piece of cloth, which wouldn't do much to keep the cold outside during the winter, but Naruto supposed that considering most Uchiha were wolf shifters, worrying about the cold would be redundant for them.

There was no fireplace to speak of, because again, wolf shifters, but the nest was rather large and comfortable looking with thick layers of fur piled on top of each other. With the extra blankets they had brought with them from their previous nest and Sasuke's natural raised body heat, Naruto thought he should be able to get through the winter without freezing off any limbs even if they lived in the midst of the mountains now.

"This is mine, yes," Sasuke confirmed; his hand rubbing soothingly across Hikaru's back. The baby had his face tucked away in his father's neck, calming down after being overwhelmed by so many new family members greeting him.

"My brother's den is on the left and my parents' on the right, though there's enough space between each that nobody will be disturbed," he added, placing the bags right next to the entrance.

Naruto followed swiftly, putting his share of the bags with the others before he drew closer to the nest, bending down to touch the fur carefully.

Even though Sasuke had been gone for such a long time, the nest looked pristine and felt soft as if he had still been here to regularly take care of it and Naruto presumed someone of his family had looked after the den, ensuring that it would be ready by the time Sasuke returned.

"So, what do you think?" Sasuke repeated, padding closer to the blond. "You all right with staying here or should we go look for another one?"

Naruto shook his head and crawled into the middle of the nest, running his hands across the soft fur. "No, this is good. It's your home."

"Your home now too," Sasuke argued and stepped into the nest as well, keeping a tight hold on their son so he wouldn't accidentally topple down. "So if you don't feel comfortable here, I don't mind moving into another one."

"I don't mind," Naruto said and laid down, inhaling deeply. He smiled when he could detect traces of Sasuke's familiar scent, still infused in the nest despite the long time he hadn't been here. "Smells like you," he murmured, turning onto his side as soon as Sasuke laid down as well.

With Hikaru cradled between the two of them, his deep blue eyes roaming around the den in wonder, Naruto sighed contently when Sasuke clasped an arm around him, tugging him close.

"So this is good?" Sasuke asked once more, nuzzling Naruto's temple.

Naruto turned his head to catch his mouth in a soft kiss. "This is good."

It was quite different from the two caves they had lived in before, but that didn't make it any less good. Especially knowing that they wouldn't have to move again after today, unless the entire family decided to up and leave. Considering Sasuke had mentioned that they had lived here for centuries already, though, he doubted they would leave soon.

* * *

"So, how did you two meet?" Mikoto asked curiously that evening as they were eating dinner.

As happy as Naruto had been to meet the entire family, he couldn't help but feel a tad relieved that the actual family dinner only existed out of Sasuke's parents, his brother and Deidara. The rest of the family had been friendly, but it had also been rather overwhelming to be greeted by so many people all at once and he needed some time to acclimate.

"Ah well, that is …" Naruto halted, floundering a bit. Their first meeting hadn't exactly been the romantic kind and he wasn't certain whether it would be all right to tell the truth.

"Did my brother do something embarrassing?" Itachi smirked, ducking away when Sasuke growled and took a swipe at him.

"I'm not you!" Sasuke shot back, making Deidara grin.

"It can't have been that bad," Mikoto encouraged, though her eyebrows were knitted together as if she was already suspecting that their story hadn't started off wonderfully.

"Not really," Naruto hedged, looking down at Hikaru. He had fed his baby right before dinner had started, but unlike the previous nights Hikaru didn't appear to be the least bit sleepy now, preferring to look around and blow spit bubbles whenever anyone looked at him for longer than a couple of seconds.

Sasuke sighed and rested his hand on Naruto's knee. "He was originally a sacrifice until I realised he's my mate."

Silence immediately descended over the group.

"He was what?" Fugaku asked flatly, while Deidara looked caught between outright laughing and looking concerned, which ended with his face screwed up funnily.

"Sasuke, didn't I tell you not to use your shifting powers?" Mikoto scolded, frowning deeply.

"It wasn't like that," Sasuke said annoyed. "The Tug had led me to a forest close to a village and wouldn't let me leave. Some humans thought they could make a trophy out of me and tried to hunt me down. I killed them. When they asked what I wanted in exchange for leaving them alone, I told him I wanted a sacrifice. I figured they would give me some of their livestock, but instead they gave – "

"Me," Naruto finished resigned, looking up again. The village's treatment still stung a bit, but he was getting over it slowly, knowing it was pointless to linger in the past.

He would probably never forgive them for having sacrificed him so easily, but it had led to him meeting Sasuke and he could never regret that.

"Your village sacrificed you instead of livestock, un?" Deidara asked stumped. "What about your parents? Surely they were against it!"

"I'm an orphan," Naruto answered simply and shrugged half-heartedly. "They told me nobody would miss me and I was worth less than the animals they kept as stock, so they offered me instead."

"What the hell is wrong with those humans?" Mikoto asked outraged; her eyes spitting fire. "How could they have just abandoned you like that? That's not right!"

"Most of them don't know the meaning of taking care of each other," Fugaku murmured, but his eyes were dark and there was a hint of claws visible when Naruto glanced at his hands.

"Ironic that the humans ended up doing something good when they decided to offer you," Itachi mused, but his lips thinned, showing that he as well wasn't happy to hear how his brother had ended up meeting his mate.

"That's about the only good thing they did," Sasuke grumbled. "They even had the gall to send hunters after me."

"Well, they did do that after you started killing them," Naruto remarked, though his stomach still flipped uneasily when he remembered how close he had come to losing Sasuke that day.

"Killing them?" Itachi raised an eyebrow.

The younger wolf shifter stared back defiantly. "They had been hurting Naruto for years – I punished them in return. Only the ones who had hurt him, the rest I let be."

"I knew I taught you well," Mikoto said proudly, leaning across to kiss his cheek. "Did you get all of them?"

"Every last one of them," Sasuke confirmed.

"Sorry you had to endure so much, un," Deidara told Naruto; his own blue eyes shining with sympathy.

"It's fine," Naruto said awkwardly, rubbing his thumb over Hikaru's cheek. "I met Sasuke so …"

"Well, I'm glad you two found each other even if the circumstances were less than conventional," Mikoto said.

That was one way to describe how they had met, he supposed.

* * *

Living with the Uchiha took some … adjustment wasn't exactly the right word, but it took some time getting used to the easy familiarity with which everyone treated each other. No matter how distant the blood was, everyone knew everyone and they were as likely to visit a distant cousin's den as they did their parents' den.

Whether or not they wore clothes or walked around shifted changed from day to day it seemed. One day Naruto would see Mikoto walking around in one of the many dresses she seemed to have, while the next day he would blush and avert his eyes when he saw her walking around naked.

She had assured him there was nothing to be embarrassed about and she wouldn't think it strange for him to look at her whilst she was naked, but still, looking at anyone else naked save for Sasuke would take some time getting used to.

Deidara seemed to be the only exception – save for Naruto of course – when it came to wearing clothes. No matter the day or the temperature, he was always dressed.

"I don't like anyone else but Itachi to see me naked, un," he answered when Naruto had finally gathered enough courage to question him about it. "They know better than to push me on this subject."

For a Fae, his grin could look as sharp as that of the wolf shifters.

Still, while Deidara also preferred to remain clothed, he didn't appear to have any trouble speaking to people who were naked without even blushing the slightest. Naruto hoped he would one day reach that apathy as well, because it was becoming quite embarrassing to have people coo at how adorable he was, because he reacted so shyly to nudity.

He was more than used to seeing his own mate naked; he just wasn't used yet to seeing a whole family naked!

* * *

"Has Sasuke told you about how winters are spent here?" Deidara surprised him by asking one day when they neared the end of autumn.

It had already become noticeably cooler at night, leaving Naruto to wonder just how much the temperature would drop in the midst of the winter if it was this cold already.

"Erm, what do you mean?" he question befuddled, unbuttoning his shirt so Hikaru could feed.

In the beginning he'd been rather shy about feeding his son in front of someone who wasn't his mate and had retreated to the den each time. But then he had seen one of Sasuke's cousins – Izumi, Naruto thought she was called – breastfeeding her daughter in plain view of everyone else without a care in the world and without anyone looking weirdly and that had made the click for him.

Of course none of them would look up weird if someone was breastfeeding; they were wolf shifters, nudity was par for the course for them and breastfeeding was as natural as breathing.

Since he had realised that, he had become more at ease feeding his son whether or not someone was nearby. Sasuke still seemed to prefer that he fed their cub in their den, but only because that made it easier for him to shift in his wolf form and curl around the both of them, acting as a rather large and fluffy support for Naruto's back.

Accepting Naruto's counter question as permission to enter the den, Deidara walked inside and sat down on the edge of the nest, crossing his legs. Sasuke had left a little while ago, joining his brother and some of his cousins on a hunt, so they could start preparing for the upcoming winter.

Sure, Sasuke would be able to go out during the winter to catch some food, but given how severe the winters could be in the mountains, he wanted to be close to Naruto as much as possible, which meant he had to start hunting now in order to create a sort of stock.

"Well, given that we live in the middle of the mountains, the winters can get pretty harsh here, un," Deidara explained without beating around the bush.

Naruto appreciated that about the Fae. Yes, he was quite blunt – more blunt than anyone else Naruto had met – but there was something refreshing about that as well, because Naruto never had to wonder what the other blond was really thinking.

"I figured as much, yeah," Naruto nodded.

He'd noticed a week ago that some snow was already collecting at the top of the mountains, which made him suspect that the winter here would be worse than in the forest.

"Now, while the majority of our family are shifters, even they can get cold if the temperatures drop too much," Deidara continued, smiling when Hikaru smacked his lips and grumbled something before latching onto Naruto's nipple again. "So they huddle together then. Well, they call it huddling, un, but I just call it making a puppy pile."

"A puppy pile," Naruto repeated dubiously and blinked.

"Yes, they sleep together in a big pile to keep each other warm," Deidara chuckled. "It's not like the whole family gets together, un. Mostly the ones you're really close to."

"Oh." Naruto blinked once more, a bit confused as to why Deidara was telling him about this now.

"Just telling you now so you won't be alarmed in case one of us offers to form a pile in the winter, un," Deidara explained, sensing his confusion. "They forgot to warn me and I nearly made Izumi combust when she crawled into our den the first time." He shook his head, his long hair swishing back and forth.

"They're lovely people, but they sometimes forget that not everyone of us grew up with them," he added wryly.

"Thank you for warning me then," Naruto smiled.

"Hm, I figured I would, because with the baby still so young, it might actually be better if you end up in a pile, un," Deidara nodded at Hikaru. "Sasuke's heat and yours should be enough, but well, the more the merrier." He shrugged.

"Would you – could you and Itachi form a pile with us then?" Naruto asked nervously.

Yes, he was becoming more and more used to the entire family, but he still felt more at ease around Itachi and Deidara than around the rest. Was it because Itachi was Sasuke's brother and Deidara being a Fae made him just as much of an 'outsider' as Naruto was with him being human? He wasn't sure, but he thought he wouldn't mind sleeping in a pile so much if it would be them.

Deidara looked surprised at first before his features softened. "Sure, un. We wouldn't mind."

"What are you two talking about?" Sasuke popped his head inside, raising an eyebrow.

"Discussing puppy piles, un," Deidara grinned.

"It's not a puppy pile, Deidara," Sasuke sighed exasperatedly, confirming that they had argued about this term many times before. "You should know that by now."

The Fae shrugged entirely unrepented and stood up. "You're wolf shifters and you cuddle up together – ergo, puppy piles," he retorted impishly.

"You're an absolute menace and I don't understand how my brother puts up with you," Sasuke growled.

"I'm good with my mouth, un, amongst other things," Deidara smirked and left after throwing a wink at Naruto, who laughed startled.

"Guess who won't be looking after Hikaru when he's older?" Sasuke muttered darkly, huffing when Deidara laughed brightly somewhere outside.

* * *

Winter proved to be a severe one indeed with wind howling so loudly it kept Hikaru and in extension his parents up until deep in the night; the harsh, whistling noise upsetting the little baby a lot. He usually only calmed down when he was nestled between Sasuke and Naruto with the blankets forming some fort of fortress around them, blocking the noise as much as possible.

Whenever Deidara and Itachi joined them to share body heat, the Fae would sing to the babe; the tone both otherworldly yet soothing at the same time and Naruto found himself nodding off alongside his son each time. It was an ancient lullaby only the Fae knew, Deidara had explained, sung at exactly the right pitch to overcome any disturbing noises.

Naruto wasn't exactly certain whether he understood how the lullaby worked, but it had his son falling asleep easily even with the whistling wind outside and that was the most important part.

When the snow blanketed everything with its pure white colour, the Uchiha family had the time of their life watching the babies explore the substance curiously. Hikaru was still too young to walk, though he had learnt how to crawl already, and a chorus of coos usually arose when they were outside and Hikaru touched the snow in wonder, smacking at it furiously whenever it melted underneath his touch. The other babies tended to follow his example, the ones old enough to walk already toddling around and trying to catch the snowflakes twirling down on them.

It was amazing, being able to walk around freely in the snow this time. Last year they had always been cautious when leaving their cave, not daring to go too far in the snow, lest unwelcome people would track them down. Here, they had no such fear. They knew everyone and knew none of them would try to harm them, so even though this winter was more severe than the previous had been, Naruto found himself enjoying the weather nonetheless, even going as far as holding a snow fight with Sasuke during the rare time Mikoto and Fugaku were looking after Hikaru.

Sure, he still missed Tsunade and Kakashi something fierce, but there was also something to be said about the freedom to walk around and be himself.

* * *

The winter was past its high when Naruto started feeling restless.

He didn't understand why at first, because nothing seemed amiss; life at the Uchiha compound continuing as it always did since he had arrived here. Briefly he considered that something might be wrong with Hikaru, but no, his son was fine, crawling around like a pro and already attempting to stand up straight, seemingly encouraged by seeing other children do the same.

Still the restlessness remained, making him annoyed with himself, until the reason why dawned upon him when one afternoon he and Sasuke were alone in the nest, Hikaru being doted upon by his grandparents. They were just lounging about, cuddled up against each other, when they began kissing.

The kiss started off slow at first, the both of them savouring the opportunity to take the time to explore each other again after months of sharing quick kisses; their attention demanded by their cub. Naruto loved Hikaru with everything he had in him and then some, but it was a fact that with a baby around, he and Sasuke didn't have much privacy – nor much energy, but Mikoto and Fugaku offering to look after Hikaru was helping with that.

Sasuke rolled him onto his back, coming to lie between his legs, when the kiss deepened; their mouths parting underneath the pressure. A soft moan escaped Naruto when the tips of their tongues touched each other and impulsively he rolled his hips against Sasuke's, shuddering when a burgeoning hardness met his.

He had exactly three seconds to savour the heat beginning to curl up in his lower belly, fuelled by anticipation, when Sasuke suddenly ripped himself away from him, rolling next to him; his breathing too heavy for they had merely been kissing.

"Why – why did you stop?" Naruto asked disappointed, sitting up; feeling oddly bereft even though his mate was still right next to him.

"Had to stop before I would go too far," Sasuke replied through clenched teeth, bracing his arm across his face.

"But why?" Naruto repeated, not understanding what the problem was.

Sasuke had never stopped before, at least not after they had taken the final step. Sure, he had held back at the start, before Naruto had felt ready to do more, but it wasn't as if Naruto was still a virgin! There was no need to hold back now, so why weren't they continuing?

Or … Naruto tried to put a stop to the treacherous thought, but it formed anyway, making him feel horrible and nauseous at once.

Or was Sasuke no longer attracted to him?

He had managed to get rid of most of the weight gain he had acquired during his pregnancy, but his thighs were still thicker than they had been before and his stomach wasn't entirely flat yet either, though that last one wasn't noticeably unless he was standing straight and wearing something very tightly.

But still, the extra weight – no matter how small – was still there. Was Sasuke disgusted by that? Was that the reason why he didn't want to go any further now, because it would mean having to look at Naruto naked?

His spiralling into self-doubt and insecurity was abruptly halted when Sasuke sighed heavily, lowering his arm.

"I can smell you're thinking something stupid," he said calmly, but his lips were pursed. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Naruto deflected, not wanting to admit his insecurities. If Sasuke didn't want him, he would just have to accept that and try his hardest to get rid of the remaining weight.

Surely if he was back to his former weight, Sasuke would want him again?

"I can still smell something's wrong," Sasuke pointed out and sat up as well. "Come on, tell me."

"Just – why did you stop?" Naruto asked helplessly. "I thought you would want – I thought you would want as well." He swallowed, barely able to keep back _, I thought you wanted me too?_

"I don't want to hurt you," Sasuke said resolutely, confusing the blond even further. "You only gave birth six months ago, I don't want to put too much stress on your body."

"But I feel fine!" Naruto protested, though at the same time he felt giddy with relief as he realised that once again it was Sasuke's protectiveness holding him back and not because he was no longer attracted to him.

He really should have known Sasuke would worry too much!

"Still, I don't want to risk it," Sasuke said, shaking his head. "I'm sorry I let it go this far already; I should have known better."

"Honestly, Sasuke, I feel fine," Naruto insisted, sidling up closer to him. "Please, it's been so long … I need you." His cheeks pricked at the blunt admission, but he knew from past experiences that his bluntness was a good way to get Sasuke fired up in return.

And yes, he could see those dark eyes blazing up, a hint of fang slipping past reddish lips, and he grew excited, his arms slipping around Sasuke's neck, ready to continue, when the dark haired man shook his head again.

"No, I can't risk it, sorry, Naruto. I think it's better if we wait a couple of months more."

A couple of months more? He couldn't be serious! Naruto stared at him in disbelief, but while Sasuke looked equally as frustrated, he wasn't about to budge either.

Suddenly fed up with the entire situation, fed up with how restless he'd been feeling lately, now knowing it was because he and Sasuke hadn't made love to each other in a while, he rose up and stamped out of the den, ignoring Sasuke's surprised shout.

Marching over to the den on the left, he barely remembered to knock on the wood before he entered, surprising Deidara and Itachi who had been dozing off in their own nest.

"I gave birth to Hikaru six months ago, is it okay for me to have sex now? I feel fine," he said impatiently, putting his hands on his hips.

Deidara blinked owlishly. "Erm, I can't say I'm a medical expert, but I'd say if you feel fine, go for it, un," he answered and shrugged.

"Six months seems enough time for your body to recuperate," Itachi agreed, caught between a cross of amusement and bewilderment.

"Pretty sure Izumi barely even waited six months," Deidara muttered and yawned. Flapping his hand at Naruto, he closed his eyes again and curled tighter around Itachi. "Have fun, I'd say."

Satisfied that he'd been proven right, Naruto returned to his own den, where Sasuke was waiting for him with an exasperated look on his face.

"I can't believe you asked my brother whether your body is ready," he sighed, rubbing his cheek.

"I asked Deidara actually," Naruto corrected him and got back into the nest, crawling into Sasuke's lap. He linked his arms around the shifter's neck, feeling strong arms descend around his waist. "Look, I understand that you're worried, but I'm really fine, Sasuke. It's been so long and Hikaru will stay with your parents for a couple of hours more at least. Please, I really want to feel you again."

Sasuke's face softened and he gently stroked some wayward strands of blond hair back. "I just don't want to hurt you."

"You won't," Naruto reassured him and closed his eyes when lips met his in a second kiss.

It was funny, he mused, as Sasuke pushed him down and removed his shirt, that it was always Sasuke worrying that he might end up hurting him instead of Naruto worrying that the wolf shifter might hurt him.

Sasuke really should have more faith in himself.

* * *

"H-harder, please!" Naruto begged, pushing back against Sasuke, who growled and tightened his grip on the blond's hips.

His knees were probably going to be bruised by tomorrow, braced as they were against the thinnest part of the nest, and his entire body would be alight with teeth marks, showing everyone what he and Sasuke had been doing, if they hadn't heard them already, but Naruto didn't care.

The only thing he cared about right now was having Sasuke inside him again after so many months of being empty, of feeling his strong body curved on top of his own, his cock battering against that particular bundle of nerves deep inside of him which never failed to set his entire body alight, making the tips of his fingers and toes tingle as heat rapidly pooled together in his lower belly.

He couldn't even feel the cold air anymore, the pleasure blazing through his veins, warming him up from the inside, and he mewled when Sasuke heeded his plea and started thrusting deeper and harder, striking that particular spot again and again until it all became too much and Naruto came, sobbing at the intense pleasure that seemed to crash into him like waves battering against a cliff, making his body shake and shiver; his thighs quivering as his strength was rapidly depleted; his ears ringing and bright lights flashing across his eyelids.

Even through the haze of pleasure, he could feel Sasuke steadily growing, the knot forming and catching onto his rim, and he could also feel the moment that Sasuke started slowing down, apparently intent on pulling out before the knot could completely catch.

His hand shot back immediately, grappling at Sasuke's wrist, and he gasped out urgently, "No, no, give it to me, please."

"I'm not – I'm not so sure that's a good idea," Sasuke said; his speech slurred, evidence that his fangs were on full display.

"Yes, it is, it's a very good idea, please, I want it, Sasuke, please, give it to me, I need it," he babbled; his coherence shot to hell as his body still spasmed, working through the last waves of his climax.

All he knew was that he needed everything Sasuke would give to him, including his knot. No holding back, no pulling away from him when it was clear that Sasuke wanted to continue.

Sasuke snarled and Naruto could feel tiny pricks in his hips where claws pressed into his skin, but he quickly forgot about those as Sasuke started fucking him more roughly, determined to get his knot inside and all Naruto could do was brace himself against the nest, wondering deliriously whether he would be able to come again so soon.

It turned out he could and he swore he blacked out the very second Sasuke's knot fully caught, filling him up completely, stretching him like he hadn't been stretched in months.

When he came to, his body was still quaking like he was experiencing his own personal earthquake, and Sasuke was kissing the back of his neck and his shoulders gently, running his hand up and down across Naruto's chest and stomach. They were on their sides now, Sasuke pressed firmly against his back, and the knot hadn't gone down yet.

"You feeling okay?" Sasuke asked softly, grasping at one of the blankets so he could drape it across them.

"Yes, perfect, this is exactly what I needed" Naruto sighed, feeling like he was still in a haze; any outside noises reaching him like he was underneath water.

Sasuke's little puff of laughter caressed his damp skin, making him shiver slightly. The restlessness was gone now, replaced with a bone deep satisfaction instead.

This had been exactly what he needed: connecting with Sasuke again after months of chaste kisses and fleeting caresses.

"Naruto, sweetheart, Hikaru is hungry, would you mind - " Mikoto cut herself off as soon as she laid eyes on them and the way her nose wrinkled made clear that she knew exactly what they had been doing just now. "Really, Sasuke?" she exclaimed exasperatedly, making Hikaru laugh. "You should know better than to knot him now! What if he ends up pregnant again?"

"He said it was fine," Sasuke answered petulantly, pulling the blanket up until Naruto's waist to cover him up completely when she came closer to hand Hikaru to the blond. "I don't want to make him unhappy and well, it happened before I realised it." He cleared his throat.

"Still, you should have known better," she said disapprovingly. "He might still breastfeed, but that doesn't mean he can't get pregnant at all."

His mind still rather foggy, he was only aware enough to place Hikaru to his chest where the little boy latched on immediately, drinking hungrily. "I don't mind, I want to have more babies with Sasuke," Naruto said absently.

That had Sasuke tightening his grip around his waist and had him nuzzling the back of his neck.

Mikoto sighed and shook her head. "Go talk to Deidara once you're both ready. He'll give Naruto something that will ensure he won't get pregnant until you two are fully ready for it."

"Will do," Sasuke promised and she left then, clucking her tongue.

"You really are amazing," Sasuke chuckled; his whole body shaking with his amusement.

Naruto just hummed, feeling like he was floating, cradled against Sasuke's chest with their baby eating.

He was definitely feeling fine now.

* * *

Deidara ended up handing him a concoction of herbs, which would prevent him from becoming pregnant as long as he drank the tea. It tasted somewhat foul, but with Hikaru still so young, it would be best if they waited a bit longer before they would think of having another child.

If someone had told him two years ago that one day he would be mated to the most amazing and kindest man he had ever known, having his child and considering having more than one, he would have laughed straight in that person's face, because miracles like that didn't exist. Not for people like him.

But they did, they did exist, and here he was now, together with Sasuke, Hikaru growing day by day, surrounded by a family he never thought he would have.

He might have been a sacrifice, but he was loved now and wanted, and that was more than he could have ever dreamt of.

And when he looked at the gates one fine summer's day and saw two familiar faces smiling up at him as they got closer and closer, blonde and silver hair catching in the sunlight, he knew life couldn't get better than this.

Here, surrounded by his family.

**The End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN2: When I started writing this story, I thought it would be finished in five parts at most ... Clearly my brain betrayed me once again :') I hope the ending isn't too horrible! It's still somewhat of a weakness of mine that I try to work on, but well ...
> 
> Regarding the extension: I have planned at least two more oneshots for this particular universe. One is called "The Stone" and is in Sasuke's pov, set around the time they first met. That one should hopefully be finished soon. The second one you can look forward to - if you want - will be called "The Willing" and will be set a bit further into the future; a sort of epilogue if you will :) It will feature something a lot of you have been wondering about for quite a while now.
> 
> For now, I thank you once again for reading this story! Please leave your thoughts behind in a review for the last time; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
> 
> I hope to see you all back in my future stories (including the extension of this universe)! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa

**Author's Note:**

> AN2: So yes, here's the first long part LOL I hope this one meets your expectations somewhat! The next part will probably be equally as long, maybe even longer depending on which scenes still pop up. I don't have a definite date in mind yet when the next part will be posted, but rest assured that I'm working on it :)
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
> 
> I hope to see you all back in the next part! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


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